The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today\u2019s ruling by a Cameroonian military appeal court that should result in Radio France Internationale radio journalist Ahmed Abba\u2019s immediate release from prison.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are delighted that Ahmed Abba will finally be free, having already spent 876 days in jail too many.\u00a0 Abba was a victim of a monumental travesty of justice and should\u00a0 never have been arrested or charged in the first place,\u201d said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Angela Quintal. \u201cHe must now be free to pick up the pieces of his life and return to his journalism without further fear of reprisal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abba\u2019s 10-year sentence was reduced to 24 months, a period he has already served, according to RFI<\/a> and diplomats present at today\u2019s\u00a0 court proceedings. RFI reported that a military court in\u00a0 Yaound\u00e9 acquitted Abba of laundering the proceeds of a terrorist act, but upheld his sentence for non-denunciation of terrorism. The news outlet indicated he would be released since he already served 29 months in prison.<\/p>\n Abba, CPJ\u2019s 2017 International Press Freedom Award honoree <\/a>, was\u00a0 convicted <\/a>and sentenced\u00a0 in April this year to 10 years in jail on terrorism-related charges following his arrest<\/a> on July 30, 2015 for reporting on the activities of extremist group Boko Haram.<\/p>\n