Pius Njawe,Cameroonian front line journalist and publisher of the daily ,Le Messager, is no more.
He died at the age of 53 in a ghastly road accident in the USA last night at 11 pm. He was known to be one of the most courageous press freedom fighters in Cameroon.He founded Le Messager in 1979.
Njawe(pictured) traveled to the USA since July 9 to attend a political forum by Cameroonians in the Diaspora billed for July 10 in Washington DC.
A speeding truck reportedly crushed them as his driver stopped by the road side and was trying to replace a punctured tyre of the vehicle in which they were driving in a road in Virginia.
The said driver(a certain Eric) is said to be in a critical condition in hospital while Pius Njawe died.
Noted for his sharp pen and criticism of the Biya regime,Mr Njawe has been arrested and imprisoned more than 100 times in his journalistic practice .
In 1990, he published an "Open Letter" to President Biya, which led to his arrest.
In 1998, he was sentenced to two years in prison because his newspaper carried an article about President Paul Biya's health that suggested he had a heart condition. The sentence for publishing this article was later reduced and, due to pressure from Human Rights groups, he was pardoned after almost a year in prison.
His exemplary practice of journalism and the defense of press freedom earned him several international awards: In 1991 he received CPJ International Press Freedom Awards and 1993 the World Association of Newspapers' Golden Pen of Freedom Award
Born on March 4,1957 in Babouantou in Haut-Nkam Diviison of the West Region of Cameroon,Pius Njawe joined the journalism profession while a teenager(19)
It should be noted that Njawe's wife, Jane, had years back died as a result of a road accident.
No comments:
Post a Comment