"Continue to write about the President and you will see what happens" is only one of the many threats Yepndjo Georges received, before he decided to leave Cameroon in July 2003. Today he is living in France as an outlaw, dreaming of the day when he can return to his home country and work as a free journalist.

"The government does not understand that the media is not there to make a war against them. We want to change the country to the better," says Yepndjo Georges and describes how most articles that could be perceived as critical by the government are censored and the journalists behind them persecuted.

Yepndjo Georges’ story is only too similar to the one of many other journalists both in Cameroon and elsewhere in Africa.

"The problems started in 2001. First it was occasional threats, which then became more frequent and more menacing. I could no longer get accredited to cover different news events, such as the Cameroon Soccer Cup. It was made clear to me that this was linked to the articles I wrote about the government and the president."

The situation grew worse, until a day in February 2003 when a group of policemen came to the regional office of the newspaper, where Yepndjo Georges worked.

"They were completely crazy. They started destroying everything around them in the newsroom. They confiscated all the computers. They took my passport and the files for an article I was working on. They tore down the Windhoek Declaration on Promoting an Independent and Pluralistic African Press from the wall and told me that if I said one more word they would make me swallow it. I did, and they put it in my mouth. It was very intimidating."

The police then arrested Georges Yepndjo and brought him to the police station where he was interrogated for several hours: they wanted him to publish a refutation to an article he had written concerning the president.

"I refused. The people have a right to know what is happening in their country. They have the right to know about matters that concern their personal lives. It is the work of the media to tell about those things."

The police finally set him free. Since the newspaper’s offices where destroyed and all the equipment confiscated, there was no more possibility for Yepndjo Georges to work. Besides that, he did no longer feel safe in Cameroon and started looking for an occasion to leave the country. This happened six months later when he got a chance to travel to France where he is living today. He has the possibility to work occasionally for his newspaper in Cameroon, which is rare for journalists living in exile.

"Here in France you are free to go to any kind of event as a journalist. In Cameroon you always need an invitation. It is wonderful to live in a country with press freedom, where you can speak up about anything,’ says Yepndjo Georges.

"For me, journalism is a noble profession. The present situation in Cameroon makes me very sad, because we do not have the right to do our work."

He points out that he is only one of many journalists who have quit the country.

"But very few people know what is going on in Cameroon. Since there is no war there that draws the attention, most people ignore what is happening there."

Read an article by Yepndjo Georges:

Who Wants to Kill the Press in Cameroon: The Authorities

In Cameroon, journalists who work for the independent press, generally called "opposition journalists" by the authorities, are barred from ceremonies, manifestations, official trips, and often refused accreditations to cover certain events in case they see things they might denounce.

As any human activity, the job of a journalist bears some risks. But unlike many other trades, the risks that are inherent to the profession are not only manyfold but complex. One could even think that this job bears risks only in Africa and in Cameroon in particular. Marked by a democratic wave in the 90’s, Cameroon still finds it difficult today to get rid of old dictatorial attitudes, which have a a strong hold in this country.

In the wake of the reunification of Germany and the collapse of the Berlin Wall, considered as the wall of shame, came a period of speeches in favour of democracy and human rights which brought many dictators to call themselves into question. That is why many African countries like Cameroon started to proclaim themselves "the world champions of democracy and human rights" in order to benefit from the favours of money lenders like the IMF or the World Bank, which condition their assistance to the advancement of democracy and the respect of human rights.

But this is asking for the impossible to the Cameroonian authorities since the end of the dictatorship would mean the end of the privileges of a power linked to abuses and financial embezzlements.

It is in this context that the Cameroonian authorities started to conduct their actions with regard to sponsors. And it is at this time that the war between the press and the authorities started.

The authorities use their heavy weapons and their repressive police to silence good people whose only arm is their pen.

In Cameroon, the risks incurred by journalists who just carry out their jobs range from the most banal to the worst, such as exclusion, social death, humiliation, the suspension of rights, exile, and death.

What has become for example of the eminent journalist Eric Chindj, who probably left Cameroon because President Paul Biya told him during a press conference he only had to make a gesture to make him go. President Biya added: "Cameroon is Cameroon", as if in his country he could decide of the future of his citizens.

This shows what Cameroon is: a dictatorship

The authorities have always viewed the press as an opponent to knock down. Just look at the number of newspapers that have been suspended, or at the many forms taken by censorship which is just another means of killing the press. The authorities have but one thing in mind - to get good press - and they will not hesitate to manipulate or corrupt certain journalists.

A journalist who refuses their favours is rejected by the so-called state newspapers whose sole role is to serve the power. From that moment the repressive machinery is set in motion: pressure, death threats, censorship and the suspension of the publication he works for, financial harassment

The authorities would do anything in their power to silence him.

Clear examples are newspapers like "Mutation" or Pius Njawe’s "Messager" and even the publication "Scores 2000", whose young editor Yepndjo Georges has been forced to work abroad because of several threats and arrests by the authorities.

Journalists, newspaper employees, street vendors and other newsagents undergo the worst possible repression on the part of the authorities when they refuse to jeopardize their independence by accepting the favours of a power who plunders the economy and whose only concern is to serve itself instead of serving its people.

However, these repressive acts against the independent media are often committed illegally, and one must recognise the cleverness of the authorities that resort to laws that have been purposely devised in order not to be questioned by the public. Therefore, those in power often invoke terms such as public order, morality, insult to the President, etc., to justify the action of justice whose laws are flouted and where stupidity is praised. Otherwise how could we account for the fact that so many journalists, only anxious to carry out their work normally, are being tortured and abusively detained in prison, or even murdered. What has become of Article 19 of the Human Rights Universal Declaration in a country which endorsed the following statement:

"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless frontiers".

In Cameroon, journalists who work for the independen