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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Boko Haram: Military Court Convicts Journalist Over Report, Risks Death Sentence |
| 2017-04-23 |
| [NEWSGHANA.GH] A military court in Cameroon ...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there... has convicted Ahmed Abba, a journalist for Radio La Belle France Internationale’s (RFI) Hausa service, on charges of "non-denunciation of terrorism" and "laundering of the proceeds of terrorist acts", according to his lawyer and RFI. Abba’s lawyer, Clement Nakong, told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that Abba, who has been tossed in the slammer Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! since July 2015 in relation to his reporting on the regional gang Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... , could face the death penalty on the first charge and a maximum of five years in prison on the second charge at a sentencing hearing scheduled for April 24. Nakong said Abba would appeal to have the conviction overturned. RFI reported that the military tribunal acquitted the journalist of the charge of "apologising for acts of terrorism". The CPJ called on Cameroonian authorities to release Abba without delay and not to contest the journalist’s appeal. "The military court’s conviction of Cameroonian radio journalist Ahmed Abba on terrorism charges that could carry the death penalty is an outrage," Robert Mahoney, CPJ deputy director, said in a blurb on the CPJ’s website. "Covering terrorism as a news hound must not be equated with committing acts of terror. Each day Abba spends behind bars is a travesty of justice." |
| Posted by:Fred |