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YAOUNDE. – A Cameroonian journalist has been charged with justifying terrorism, his lawyer told AFP on Friday, one of at least six reporters detained since a disputed presidential election on October 7.
Michel Biem Tong, who works for the Internet site Hurinews.com was arrested on October 23 by army security forces, lawyer Essomba Tchoungui said.
He was charged on Thursday with “justifying terrorism, false declarations and insulting the head of state,” he added.
A support group noted that Tong was arrested following “a series of articles that denounced abuses by the Cameroon army in anglophone zones” of the country where separatists have clashed repeatedly with government forces.
He is to be brought before a military tribunal in Yaounde on December 5, the group added.
Since Cameroon President Paul Biya, 85, won reelection with 71 percent of the vote according to poll officials, at least six journalists have been detained in the country.
In 2017, radicals gained the upper hand in the separatist anglophone movement and declared an independent state, the Republic of Ambazonia, which is not recognised internationally.
Since then, more than 200 members of the security forces and more than 500 civilians have died in clashes, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG). – AFP
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