Cameroon “is one of the continent’s most dangerous countries for journalists,” according to Reporters without Borders.
Against this backdrop, TrialWatch monitored the trial of journalist Paul Chouta, who spent nearly two years in detention on speech-related charges, with the authorities delaying his case over and over for frivolous reasons.
TrialWatch took his case to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, where it is pending. This is also part of TrialWatch’s broader work on ‘offensive speech’ laws, including in Uganda, Malaysia, and Tunisia.
Antoinette Kongsa
TrialWatch also monitored the trial of Antoinette Kongsa, a woman who was arrested when she was eight months pregnant and only freed in February 2023 after pleading guilty despite a court ordering her release in December 2021.
She was seemingly tried in connection with her romantic relationship with a separatist fighter.