Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Cameroonian counterpart on the arrest and detention of (a) Théodore Tchopa and (b) David Eyengue Nzima following those journalists' reporting of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement-led protests in Douala in January 2020.

We were deeply concerned by the arrest and detention of journalists Théodore Tchopa and David Eyengue Nzima following their reporting of protests in Douala on 28 January 2019. We welcomed their release on 1 February 2019. We continue to press the Government of Cameroon to ensure that human rights are respected. Due process should be followed at all times, and freedom of political expression must be respected. The British Government is fully committed to promoting media freedom and the protection of journalists. We believe that media freedom is vital to functioning democracies and that journalists must be able to investigate and report without undue interference.