Trainee Journalist Arrested for Trying to Cover Constitutional Council Proceedings
By Hans Ngala
A trainee journalist has been arrested and thrown behind bars while trying to cover today’s Constitutional Council proceedings in Yaounde. Gabrielle Souga, a 17-year-old trainee reporter with The Post newspaper was picked up by security forces at the entrance to Yaounde Conference Centre where the proceedings are taking place.
Souga was bundled on Monday August 4 alongside some pro-Kamto supporters who had shown up for Monday’s hearings as Maurice Kamto was scheduled to plead his case, asking the Council to reinstate him as MANIDEM party’s presidential candidate.
Souga reportedly spent the night in detention even after providing identification to security officers indicating that she is a trainee reporter on assignment. A statement from the Cameroon Association of English-speaking Journalists (CAMASEJ), says that after security forces picked her up “her phone was seized, she was interrogated without the presence of legal counsel, and ultimately detained in a despicably airtight and smelly cell, unfit for any human being – much less a young trainee journalist”.
Following her arrest, Souga was unreachable by CAMASEJ officials, The Post staff and her family. A police commissioner who finally commented on her arrest late in the night, reportedly said he could not release her due to “high instructions,” and would hold her until the process is completed, without stating when.
CAMASEJ pointed out that not only is Souga a minor at 17, but also a trainee journalist doing what she is legally allowed to. The Association went on to condemn her arrest and calling on “all media professionals, civil society actors, and rights organizations to stand in solidarity with Souga and to collectively resist any actions aimed at silencing the press. Freedom of the press is not a privilege. It is a right!”.
Souga is currently enrolled in a journalism program at the Advanced School of Mass Communication (ASMAC) under the University of Yaounde II.
