President of Cameroon's journalism association condemns arrest of journalist

Teke Julius, a journalist working for the state broadcaster, CRTV, was arrested Monday by the military, and brutalized before he was forcefully cuffed to jail without standing a trial, according to reports from local journalists who witnessed his arrest.

"He was on duty covering the inspection visit by Cameroon`s Prime Minister on the various infrastructure to host the 2016 Women`s African Cup of Nations," Simon Lyonga said Monday in an official statement.

"The journalist who was duly assigned for that coverage, and who wore an accreditation badge for the event saw his recorder confiscated for allegedly recording the Prime Minister`s instructions to the workers. He was later handed the recorder and instructed to delete all his recordings. While attempting to do just that, he was surrounded by the gendarmerie, upon instructions by the Senior Divisional Officer for Fako, himself present in the group, and was whisked like a thief to the gendarmerie cell in Limbe."

On May 3, Cameroon joined the rest of the world in celebrating World Press Freedom day. According to Freedom House, the press in the West African nation is categorized as "not free."

"On behalf of the executive and members of CAMASEJ, we condemn in the strongest terms possible such acts which we consider as means of stifling the press. We also condemn any act of violence against pressmen in the process of data collection or broadcasting," says Lyonga who doubles as a CRTV editor-in-chief.

"Also, we call on our members to stay calm in the face of such, calling on our state authorities to look into such acts, because the media will always be their partners."