Cameroon journalist facing deportation granted bail

Journalist and asylum seeker Charles Atangana was awarded bail at a hearing yesterday, following an ongoing campaign by the National Union of Journalists to prevent him being deported to his home country of Cameroon.

Atangana, who was reportedly tortured and detained in his home country for writing about alleged political corruption,
has lived in Glasgow since arriving in the UK in 2004.

The economics and current affairs reporter was due to be deportated on Monday last week, but was granted a temporary reprieve.

According to the NUJ, he has now been granted bail for six weeks to enable him to prepare an application to seek a judicial review of his case.

The decision follows a campaign by trade union groups, led by the NUJ, calling on the government to drop the order.

In a release following the hearing, NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear said getting bail was a victory but the campaign must now "intensify" to prevent Atangana's future detention and deportation.

"Though this is just one step in the campaign to prevent Charles' deportation back into the hands of the regime that has already imprisoned and tortured him for his brave reporting of corruption at the heart of the Cameroonian regime, it is nonetheless a tremendous victory for all the trade unionists, campaign groups, politicians and individuals who have lent their support to the campaign so far," he said in the release. "Our thanks go out to them."

"The campaign to stop his detention will now intensify - but now with Charles himself at the forefront of the campaign," he added.

In a message passed on from the journalist before his bail hearing, Atangana gave his thanks to supporters.

"I want to thank you all for the incredible support you've given me during my time in detention these past 2 months," he is quoted by the NUJ. "The knowledge that there are so many people on the outside, campaigning tirelessly to prevent my deportation has given me more strength than I can say."

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