Cameroon sentences RFI journalist to 10 years in prison


Save Story

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) — A Cameroon military court has sentenced a correspondent of Radio France International's Hausa service to 10 years in jail after convicting him of non-denunciation of acts of terrorism and laundering proceeds of terrorist acts.

Ahmed Abba's lead defense attorney, Charles Tchoungang, promised to appeal Monday's sentence, which also fined Abba more than $90,000.

Abba was arrested in northern Cameroon in July 2015 while investigating Boko Haram. He has denied accusations of acting as an accomplice and failing to warn authorities of activities by the Nigeria-based Islamic extremists.

Amnesty International says he was held incommunicado for three months and tortured. The rights group called the conviction and sentencing a travesty of justice after an unfair trial.

Cameroonian authorities have arrested more than 1,000 people since 2014 for allegedly supporting Boko Haram.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Most recent World stories

Related topics

The Associated Press
    KSL.com Beyond Series
    KSL.com Beyond Business

    KSL Weather Forecast

    KSL Weather Forecast
    Play button