Cameroon newspaper editor Raphaël Nkamtcheun visited a prison, to interview a former government minister who is serving a jail sentence, and ended up being arrested himself.
The editor of La Boussole was accused of receiving confidential documents from the former finance minister Polycarpe Abah Abah while inside Yaoundé prison on 17 February.
Abah, who has been in jail since 2008 for embezzlement, had asked Nkamtcheun to visit him. After their three-hour meeting, guards searched Nkamtcheun and claimed he was in possession of confidential government documents that he had presumably received from Abah. Nkamtcheun was arrested and has been in detention ever since.
A statement issued by the press freedom watchdog, Reporters Without Borders, calling for Nkamtcheun to be freed, says the arrest was "an arbitrary act designed to silence the press."
It continued: "Receiving a document from a prisoner you are visiting is not a crime. It is understandable that the authorities might want to know how Abah came to be in possession of these documents but accusing a journalist is unacceptable.
"It is normal for investigative reporters to be shown official documents. It is an essential part of their work."
Source: Reporters Without Borders
