Military Tribunal bars journalists from media, travelling

The Yaoundé Military Tribunal has barred two journalists from practising until further notice.

Félix Cyriaque Ebole Bola of Mutations newspaper and Rodrigue Tongue of Le Messager were given the embargo yesterday after they appeared before the Tribunal to answer charges relating to the security of the state.

The journalists told reporters shortly after their interrogations that the judge has barred them from leaving the country throughout the trial period nor organise any press conference on the matter.

The judge equally obliged that the duo report to her office every Monday and to provide two individuals each as guarantee that they will not jump bail. The two individual guarantees, the judge said, must neither be journalists nor parliamentarians.

Felix and Rodrigue were summoned by the tribunal alongside Baba Wame, an Information Technology lecturer at the Advanced School of Mass Communication, ASMAC who is also a media practitioner.

Baba who like Marafa Hamidou Yaya hails from Garoua is a sub-director in the ministry of communication. The trio are accused of refusing to make available information in their keeping which is allegedly detrimental to the security of the state.

According to the accusations against the journalists, Baba had furnished Felix and Rodrigue with a document containing information about the physical ability of the head of state.

The document was allegedly handed to Baba Wame by Abdoulai Harissou, Marafa’s legal adviser who is currently being detained at the Kondengui prison over charges of arms possession and indecent behaviour against the Head of State.

According to the charges against him, the document alleges that the Head of State is physically unfit for any political exercise and incapable of running the country.

But the duo have denied all the accusations, maintaining that they were in possession of no document of the sort. Rodrigue, for example, even claims that the last time he met Harrissou was in early 2000 during a meeting of notaries; when Marafa was still minister.

The interrogations which began with Felix and closed with Rodrigue lasted for over four hours. By press time, the tribunal was yet to fix a date for hearing of the substantive matter.