Press under attack: Case of Paul Chouta suffers another adjournment

The case of the incarcerated journalist has once again been postponed to August 12, 2020.

The Yaounde Court of instance pushed ahead the hearing of the journalist after declaring the evidences provided by the prosecution inadmissible for lack of authenticity, suggesting the elements should be authenticated.

Paul Chouta was arrested in May 2019 on the orders of French Cameroonian writer Calixthe Beyella for defamation charges. The journalist was kept incommunicado for several months while constantly being tortured.

Since the trial of the journalist began, it should be noted that the complainant, Calixthe Beyella has been continually absent from the hearings, letting her counsel to appear alone. Requests for the dismissal of the case did not go through.

Most notable during the recent hearing of the journalist was the presence of his three-year-old daughter, wailing as her father was helplessly taken by the bus of the main prison back to detention where he had suffered several horrors including a food poisoning case and survived the Covid-19 pandemic.

Paul Chouta has already been in prison for 14 months for a defamation case, which according to Cameroon law is only liable to a 6 months prison sentence at most if found guilty.

Mimi Mefo Info