Caristan Isseri: Why Reporter was Assaulted After Biya's Reshuffle

Caristan Isseri - a Le Jour newspaper journalist, was accused of spying and interrogated for several hours. The reporter was working on a...

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Caristan Isseri - a Le Jour newspaper journalist, was accused of spying and interrogated for several hours.

The reporter was working on a story about President Paul Biya's recent cabinet reshuffle in which the transport minister lost his job.

A media rights body has accused bodyguards at the home of Cameroon's former transport minister, Alain Edgard Mebe Ngo’o, of humiliating a journalist by forcing him into a dog's kennel.

Reporters Without Borders said was stripped, slapped and put into the kennel where he was sprayed with water. The former transport minister has not publicly commented on the accusations.

President Paul Biya

Cameroon ranks poorly in the world's press freedom index - placed 130th out of 180 countries in RSF's World Press Freedom Index of 2017. Reporters Without Borders says radio stations in particular are under "constant threat".

The journalist visited the home of ex-transport minister Alain Edgard Mebe Ngo'o on Saturday, the day after the politician left the top job.

"After reporting to a guard at the entrance of the residence, the journalist was arrested by the minister's police service, then undressed, violently slapped, put inside a cage for dogs and sprayed with water," the non-government organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said.

Accused of espionage, he was interrogated for several hours, the statement added. The reporter for the Cameroon daily newspaper Le Jour had been covering President Paul Biya's cabinet reshuffle.

Editor Haman Mana said on Monday the newspaper reserved the right to take legal action. The National Union of Journalists of Cameroon "condemned with the utmost energy this heinous act".

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