Cameroon when it comes to treating certain subjects like the army and police. Those who dare are abducted. For fear of reprisals on the media organisation, some journalists would not invite guests with a critical “tongue” to their programmes. Journalists in Cameroon fear “financial violence” more than physical violence. The government has taken advantage of the high levels of poverty to shut the mouths of media practitioners. This is seen in the management of advertisement from government ministries. Since journalists cannot survive on revenue from the sale of their newspapers, they must appear as good and loyal people to the powers that be, in order to be given adverts. SCORES: Individual scores: 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2 Average score: 2.6 1.3 There are no laws restricting freedom of expression such as excessive official secrets or libels acts, or laws that unreasonably interfere with the responsibilities of the media. ANALYSIS: There are no laws in Cameroon that restrict freedom of expression such as excessive official secrets or libel acts or laws that unreasonably interfere with the responsibilities of the media. But the problem comes from the penal code, which makes libel acriminal offence and given that the courts are not free, the penal code can be used to tame the press. The Attorney can summon a journalist because he/she is judged to be putting into question the integrity of the Head of State. A panellist used the case of Mr. Pius Njawe, publisher of the “Messager Newspaper” to illustrate the point. He (Njawe) ran into trouble in 1997 for reporting that the Head of State suffered a malaise during the final of the Cup of Cameroon in the omnisport stadium in Yaounde. In Cameroon, Newspapers are 6 African Media Barometer - Cameroon 2008