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Cameroon man jailed for SMS joke
7:14 CAT | 04 Nov 2016
Amnesty International West Africa Twitter / Fomusoh Ivo
Amnesty International has strongly condemned the 10-year sentence slapped on a 27-year-old Cameroonian man who joked about Boko Haram.
Fomusoh Ivo and two of his friends – Afuh Nivelle Nfor and Azah Levis Gob – were convicted by a Cameroon Military court in Yaounde and sentenced to 10 years in prison for “non-denunciation of terrorist acts” linked to a sarcastic SMS about the terror group.
“Fomusoh Ivo and his two friends should never have been arrested in the first place, as they were simply exercising their right to freedom of expression,” Samira Daoud, Amnesty International Deputy Regional Director for West and Central Africa said in a statement late on Wednesday.
“Instead of being in school like their friends, these three young men will now spend years of their lives in prison for a simple joke.
“This ruling is clear evidence that Cameroonian military courts should not have jurisdiction to try civilians. The Cameroonian authorities must quash their conviction and sentence and immediately and unconditionally release all three of them.”
The rights body said Ivo, whom it considers a prisoner of conscience, was arrested on 13 December 2014 after forwarding his friends a sarcastic SMS referring to Boko Haram. According to Amnesty’s Write for Rights website, the message joked that even Boko Haram wouldn’t hire you unless you passed five high school subjects.
He was held in police custody in Douala before being transferred to Yaounde Prison in January 2015.
Source: African News Agency
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