In Cameroon, Bruno Bidjang, general director of media for the L’Anecdote press group, spent the night of February 7 to 8, 2024 at the State Secretariat for Defense (SED). He is also known for his broadcasts on the Vision 4 television channel. No official communication at the moment on the reasons for his summons which comes, in any case, after critical positions taken on government policy.
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Bruno Bidjang finally presented himself on February 7 to SED investigators, accompanied by his wife and the lawyer for the L’Anecdote press group. The Secretary of State for Defense which, at Cameroon, is both a place where a judicial police unit of the gendarmerie is housed and a place of deprivation of liberty. The SED can, in principle, be seized by both civil and military justice.
In the case of Bruno Bidjang, no formal communication on what motivated his hearing. It comes after the broadcast on his networks of a video, in which he mirrors the news and the affair of Hervé Bopda, an economic operator, residing in Douala, targeted by anonymous denunciations for rape, in January. The affair caused a stir and excitement on the networks with calls to stop it.
Read alsoCameroon: police arrest businessman Hervé Bopda, accused of sexual assault
Bruno Bidjang asks: “ Where are the Cameroonians when we must denounce the defects of our society, defend their rights, demand water, electricity, jobs, roads? […]. I end up understanding that people are more interested in the buzz than in the essential questions they need to ask themselves. »
This Wednesday, without naming him, the L’Anecdote press group distanced itself. With a memo with immediate effect prohibiting staff from giving their opinion on current events, in the networks, under penalty of being dismissed for serious misconduct.
In its press conference with six ministries, the government on February 6 called on media men and women to be responsible in a socially sensitive context linked to the 15% increase in fuel prices announced on February 2.
Read alsoCameroon: the government justifies the increase in fuel prices
That same day, Friday February 2, Bruno Bidjang received on the set of the show “Décryptage” on Vision 4, the opposition deputy Cabral Libii, officially declared third in the last presidential election in 2018. About the increase in the prices of super and diesel, during the interview, Cabral Libii notably described the government measure as “banditry in an organized group “.
The CEO of the L’Anecdote press group is Jean-Pierre Amougou Belingastill in custody in the investigation into the assassination more than a year ago of Martinez Zogo.