Dakar — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the Central African Republic to drop their prosecution of journalist Landry Ulrich Nguéma Ngokpélé, editor of the privately owned newspaper Le Quotidien de Bangui, who was arrested and jailed on May 8 over his newspaper's report on the alleged return of former President François Bozizé to Bangui, the capital.
"The charges against Landry Ulrich Nguéma Ngokpélé over a publication in his newspaper sends a chilling signal across the media sector in the Central African Republic," said Moussa Ngom, CPJ's Francophone Africa representative. "Central African Republic authorities must secure his immediate release and ensure journalism is not criminalized."
Ngokpélé's was arrested by a man in civilian clothes, who pointed a gun at him and threatened to shoot if the journalist refused to cooperate, according to his lawyer, Roger Junior Loutomo, who spoke with CPJ.
On May 14, an investigating judge ordered Ngokpélé's transfer to Ngaragba prison in Bangui from a gendarmerie office, where he had been held since his arrest.
On May 19, the judge charged Ngokpélé with complicity in rebellion, spreading information likely to disturb public order, inciting hatred andrevolt, and subversion against the constitution and the state, according to Loutomo and copies of the charge sheet, which CPJ reviewed.
Loutomo told CPJ the case was related to a report published in the paper's April 22 edition, which said that the former president, who has been living in exile in Guinea Bissau, had returned to the capital.
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(Screenshot: Le Quotidien de Bangui)
Bozizé, who is sought by the International Criminal Court for possible crimes against humanity, seized power in 2003 and was toppled in 2013. In 2020, he set up a rebel group seeking to overthrow the government, for which Central African authorities sentenced him in absentia in 2023 to life in prison.
The charge sheet cites sections 11, 12, 292, 295, 381, and 382 of the penal code, so Ngokpélé would face time in prison if found guilty. However, the country's press law holds that offenses involving journalism should fall under that law, which would only carry fines.
Ngokpélé was previously detained for more than two months in 2021.
Government spokesperson Maxime Balalou told CPJ via messaging app that he was "closely" following Ngokpélé's case. Balalou asked to be sent questions via email, but when CPJ requested his email address, he did not respond.
CPJ's calls to the gendarmerie and the Bangui court went unanswered.
