Cameroon: the appeal trial of MRC activists has begun

Militants from Maurice Kamto's MRC in October 2019. (Illustration).

AFP-STRINGER

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After being sentenced by a military court, Olivier Bibou Nissak, Alain Fogué and 35 other opposition activists saw their appeal proceedings begin this Thursday, September 15 in Yaoundé.

All were arrested in connection with the September 2020 marches.

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This first hearing will have lasted an hour and a half without the press who could not access the hearing room.

For this part on appeal, it was first a question of procedure and the lawyers of the detained activists asked for a postponement to October 20.

One of the defendants' lawyers, Me Hippoyte Meli, denounces " 

 " in the file as dates which do not correspond.

The lawyers therefore want time for verifications.

The spokesperson for Maurice Kamto, Olivier Bibou Nissack, and the treasurer of the MRC, Alain Fogué, were

by military justice to seven years in prison for acts of revolution.

For other activists, the sentences range up to six years in prison.

In September 2020, around 500 people had been arrested, more than a hundred spent at least a year behind bars.

For the MRC,

to demand the return of peace in the North West and South West regions of the accounts on the expenses for the organization of the CAN football as well as the reform of the electoral system.

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• Cameroon

• Justice