After months of uncertainty, the Cameroon government has finally admitted that Cameroon journalist Samuel Wazizi died in prison shortly after his arrest. Wazizi, whose legal name is Samuel Ajiekah Abuwe, was arrested in August 2019 for his critical reporting on the government’s handling of the separatist conflict in Cameroon. Since his arrest Wazizi’s lawyer, Emmanuel Nkea, supported by Media Defence, had been trying to establish his whereabouts and what had happened to him. The government had fiercely resisted those efforts at every stage of the various legal proceedings brought. A full and through investigation into Wazizi’s death is now an imperative, and the government must hold to account all of those responsible for his death and for covering up his disappearance for over ten months.
See international media coverage here:
https://www.africanews.com/2020/06/05/outrage-over-death-of-cameroonian-journalist-wazizi/
https://www.voanews.com/africa/cameroon-journalists-blast-government-silence-case-missing-colleague
https://www.journalducameroun.com/en/cameroon-govt-finally-is
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