The plight of Ahmed Abba, a Cameroonian journalist with Radio France Internationale sentenced to ten year imprisonment by the Cameroonian government has elicited reactions from Amnesty International, Reporters without Borders and other Civil society organizations.

Abba was arrested on June 30, 2015, as he left a press briefing at the office of a local governor in Maroua, the capital of Cameroon’s far north region, according to RFI.

He was detained for three months without authorities taking a statement from him, which is against the law.

On April 20, 2017, a military tribunal acquitted Abba of “apologizing for acts of terrorism” but convicted him for “non-denunciation of terrorism” and “laundering of the proceeds of terrorist acts.”

In a joint statement on Thursday, August 17, 2017, the groups numbering thirty-six condemned the trial and they have embarked on a campaign to step up “public and political pressure” on the Cameroonian authorities, “who should never have arrested Abba”.

RSF also said it is setting up a committee to bring together well-known figures from around the world and especially Africa.

“The committee has decided to begin online by creating a Facebook page in which we will share the messages of his supporters,” said Cléa Kahn-Sriber, head of RSF’s Africa desk.

“This is just the first step. The campaign will grow in strength if the authorities do not free Ahmed Abba.”

The cause is being supported by others including several regional and international non-governmental organisations that defend journalists and human rights, such as Africtivistes (a pro-democracy coalition of African cyber-activists), Amnesty International, Journalist in Danger, (JED), the International Federation of Journalists and the Committee to Protect Journalists, which has named Abba as one of the winners of its 2017 International Press Freedom Award.