cameroon gay list publisher jailed for defamation

By Tansa Musa (Source: Reuters)

March 3, 2006: Yaounde - A Cameroon court jailed a newspaper publisher for four months on Friday for defaming a government minister named in a list of 50 presumed homosexuals in the central African country where homosexuality is a crime.

The court also ordered Jean Pierre Amougou Belinga, publisher of L'Anecdote newspaper, to pay symbolic compensation of 1 CFA franc (0.1 U.S. cent) to Gregoire Owona, minister-delegate at the presidency in charge of parliamentary affairs.

Belinga must also pay a 1 million CFA franc penalty to the state and arrange for the judgement to be published via 15 local and international newspapers, radio and television stations.

Owona sued Belinga last month after L'Anecdote published his name in the controversial list in January, when some Cameroonian tabloid newspapers launched a crusade against what their editors said was "deviant behaviour".

As in many African countries, homosexuality is a crime in Cameroon. It is punishable by between six months and five years in prison, and a fine ranging from 20,000 to 200,000 CFA francs.

For every day that passes without the publication of the judgement, Belinga must pay 300,000 CFA francs to the aggrieved minister.

Before passing judgement in the two-week trial, Judge Alexandre Amougou Anaba said Belinga had failed to produce any evidence to support his allegation that Owona was gay.

The judge said that homosexuality was illegal in Cameroon and widely condemned by society.

Owona's lawyers said their client denied ever indulging in homosexual practices. The publication of his name in the list had seriously damaged his reputation and exposed his family to ridicule, they said.

L'Anecdote was one of three newspapers in Cameroon which published lists and photos of allegedly gay politicians, businessmen and musicians. Street vendors were forced to sell photocopies of the weekly papers, which sold out within hours.

"Men making love to other men ... is filthy. It may be normal in the West, but in Africa and Cameroon in particular, it is unthinkable," Belinga told Reuters in early February.