Media watchdog RSF rejects Cameroonian authorities' response death of journalist Wazizi in custody

06 Juin 2020

Paris, France, June  6 (Infosplusgabon) - Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has rejected as "indecent and unacceptable" the explanation of the Cameroonian defence ministry on the death of journalist Samuel Wazizi in military custody and demanded an "impartial and independent" investigation into the tragedy.

A statement read on Friday on the Cameroonian Public Broadcast (CRTV) and signed by the head of communication of the Ministry of Defence, said the journalist died "from severe sepsis" and not from "any act of torture".

It said Wazizi, presenter of the regional Chillen Media Television (CMTV) channel, died at the military hospital in Yaounde on 17 August, 2019, four days after his transfer to the country's political capital.

"The explanations provided by the Cameroonian authorities are indecent and unacceptable. The journalist's family was never informed of his death. His brother's emotion, when our organization contacted him, was noticeable on the phone when he realised that this information was now official," Arnaud Froger, head of RSF's Africa office said.

RSF said the circumstances of the CMTV presenter's death deserve an impartial and independent investigation involving an autopsy, stressing that Wazizi was well at the time of his arrest.

"Given the many shadows, the late and very unbelievable explanations provided so far, only further and transparent investigations will allow us to know the truth," it added.

RSF said it had seen several photos of the journalist taken in Yaounde on 13 August 2019, in which he had numerous injuries and inflammations to his foot, hand and shoulder, which legitimately lead to suspicions of torture inflicted on him.

"Since the very beginning of the case, Samuel Wazizi's lawyers have also continuously requested access to their client and the allegations against him, without ever receiving the information that the journalist had died,"  the organization said.

He was arrested on 2 August 2019 for making critical remarks on his channel about the management of the English language crisis in Cameroon  and was held incommunicado by the military.

The private Equinoxe TV channel revealed last Tuesday that Wazizi had died in detention, citing "sources close to the military hierarchy", before the news was confirmed by the president of the National Union of Cameroonian Journalists and then, directly to RSF, by a military source very close to the case.

Communications Minister and government spokesman René Emmanuel Sadi, as well as the head of communications for the Ministry of Defence, did not respond to calls and messages from RSF, it said.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/POL/GABON2020

© Copyright  Infosplusgabon