Cameroonian opponent Maurice Kamto released after nine months in prison

The Yaounde military court on Saturday (October 5th) ordered the release of Cameroon's main opposition leader, Maurice Kamto, and all supporters present at his side. The day before, the Cameroonian president, Paul Biya, had demanded a halt to the legal proceedings against them.

"The court takes note of the prosecutor's office, notes the discontinuation of the prosecution" and "orders their release if they are not detained for anything else" than what is blamed on them, said the President of the Court, before which 102 people appeared, including Maurice Kamto.

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The detainees and activists remained calm in the courtroom but let their joy burst at the end of the hearing. An inmate and leader of Maurice Kamto's party, the Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon (MRC), Celestin Djamen, is mounted on a bench to harangue the crowd.

"We take note of the release of our clients, who should never have been in prison.Mauritius Kamto is released," said Sylvain Souop, the lawyer at the head of the group of defense of the political opponent and his followers. They will leave prison after "the administrative formalities" necessary for their release, he added.

Released after nine months in prison

Maurice Kamto had been in prison for almost nine months. He was arrested in late January with hundreds of his supporters following peaceful demonstrations to protest the results of the presidential election.

He and more than 90 of his followers have since been prosecuted by the military justice, including for "insurrection", a crime punishable by death, even if it is no longer applied in Cameroon. Their trial opened on September 6 and was supposed to resume theoretically Tuesday.

In addition to the opponent Maurice Kamto, among the personalities whose court ordered the release, is the former economic advisor of President Biya, Christian Penda Ekoka, the charismatic Cameroonian lawyer Michele Ndoki, or the famous rapper Valsero, known for his critical texts about power.

President Paul Biya's announcement came a few hours after the end of the major national dialogue convened to try to end the bloody separatist conflict in the country's two English-speaking regions.

The day before, the president had already announced the end of the prosecution and the release of 333 people arrested in the context of this crisis.

Since the beginning of the year, international pressure on Yaoundé both to demand a resolution of the crisis in the English-speaking West and to demand the release of Mr. Kamto has intensified.

With AFP