Cameroon: Amnesty International denied access to hold press conference in Yaounde

Amnesty International has been denied access to organise a planned news conference scheduled for Wednesday 24 May 2017.

The rights group, together with local civil society groups, had invited international and national media persons to the media outing at Hotel la Falaise in Yaounde.

The contents of hundreds of letters from across the world demanding the release of some three young persons sentenced to ten years in prison were to be made known to the media persons.

But Amnesty International later declared that access to the hall had been denied by hotel personnel, according to Cameroon-info.Net.

In the meantime, the team is looking for a second option, Cameroon-Info.Net reports.

The three men who are currently behind bars have been found “guilty” of complicity with terrorism and failure to denounce terrorist acts.

Fomusoh Ivo Feh and two of his friends were arrested in Limbe (in the South Region) in 2014 for sharing a joke by SMS on Boko Haram.

The message which they had gotten from a soldier (a friend) read, “Boko Haram is recruiting 14-year olds and above. Requirements: passed in four subjects plus Religious Studies.”

Terrorism in Cameroon is tantamount to a death penalty, according to a controversial terrorism law passed in 2014.

The three men have appealed the court ruling.

This is certainly not the first time special events have been called off by the hosting structure for reasons known only to those who can alter the course of things in Cameroon.

Recently, Canal2 International controversially annulled a programme featuring the leader of the Cameroon Doctors’ Trade Union (Symec). The labour union’s boss had planned to shed more light on the bone of contention between the doctors and the central machinery in Yaounde.