Tsi Conrad

tsi conrad pic

Detained Since: December 8, 2016.

Charges: Terrorism, Hostilities against the Fatherland, Simple Rebellion, Contempt of Public Bodies and Public Servants, Arrested Without an ID card, Propagation of False News, Propagation of False News Through Electronic Means, and Secession.

Sentence: 15 years and additional 16 months.

Biography: Tsi Conrad is a journalist, filmmaker, and writer from Bamenda, Cameroon. Prior to his arrest, he reported on and documented protests and government abuses in the country's English-speaking regions. On December 8, 2016, Tsi was arrested while filming a demonstration, tortured, and forced to sign a false confession. Despite being a civilian, he was tried by a military court. On May 25, 2018, he was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison on a variety of baseless charges – Terrorism, Hostilities against the Fatherland, Simple Rebellion, Contempt of Public Bodies and Public Servants, Arrested Without an ID card, Propagation of False News, Propagation of False News Through Electronic Means, and Secession. On appeal, several of the charges, including terrorism, were overturned, but his sentence was not reduced. Tsi filed a further appeal to the Supreme Court in August 2021, but the Supreme Court has yet to hold a hearing on the appeal. On September 2, 2019, he and other prisoners were sentenced to an additional 18 months’ imprisonment (reduced on appeal to 16 months) relating to a peaceful protest they had conducted against the prison’s unsanitary conditions and delays in their court cases.

 

Tsi's detention has been widely condemned, including by civil society organizations and the European Parliament, which called for the government to immediately and unconditionally release Tsi and the other detained journalists. On May 5, 2021, the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention adopted an opinion which found that Tsi's detention is unlawful because it "resulted from the exercise of his right to freedom of expression, his right of peaceful assembly and his right to take part in the conduct of public affairs.” On December 10, 2025 – Human Rights Day – Senator James Risch, the Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, tweeted: "Tsi Conrad, a journalist who reported on state abuses in the Anglophone regions, has been arbitrarily detained for 9 years.... This is unacceptable."
Despite being detained, Tsi has refused to be silenced. In the leadup to Cameroon's 2025 presidential election, he published an op-ed in The Financial Times asking the international community to call out the regime's efforts to rig the election and to hold government officials accountable for atrocities. He also self-published a book of poems called A Place of Hope: My Fight For Freedom in Poetry, and spoke live from prison via video feed at the 2026 Oslo Freedom Forum.
 

Advocate: Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ)

Advocacy Partner: Freedom House

Updates:

  • On October 7, 2025, Tsi Conrad published an op-ed in the Financial Times titled “Don’t allow Cameroon’s forever president to trample democracy again,” dictated from Yaoundé Central Prison, in which he called on the international community to denounce election rigging and hold the regime accountable for atrocities in the Anglophone regions (October 7, 2025, Financial Times).
  • On February 13, 2026, Freedom House published an open letter written by Tsi Conrad from Kondengui Central Prison addressed to Pope Leo XIV, urging the Pope to advocate for the release of political prisoners, including detained journalists, ahead of a potential papal visit to Cameroon (February 13, 2026, Freedom House).
  • On May 3, 2026, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) highlighted Tsi Conrad’s case on World Press Freedom Day, renewing calls for his immediate release along with other imprisoned Cameroonian journalists (May 3, 2026, CPJ).
  • As of early 2026, Tsi Conrad’s appeal to the Supreme Court (filed in 2023) had still not received a hearing date. A scheduled session in July 2024 was removed from the court roll for re-examination, with no new date set (CPJ profile, updated 2026).
  • In May 2026, Time magazine featured Tsi Conrad among the most urgent threats to press freedom worldwide, noting the ongoing delays in his Supreme Court appeal (May 2, 2026, Time).
  • In June 2026, Tsi Conrad spoke live via video feed from prison at the Oslo Freedom Forum, sharing his story as a journalist documenting the Anglophone crisis and emphasizing that continuing to tell the truth is an act of resistance (June 2026, Oslo Freedom Forum).

Tsi Conrad remains detained in Kondengui Central Prison, serving his 15-year sentence plus additional time, with continued international calls for his unconditional release.

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