Assassination of Cameroonian journalist Martinez Zogo: update on the investigation

An altar in memory of Martinez Zogo, in front of Amplitude FM radio in Yaoundé, after the death of the journalist, in January 2023. AFP - DANIEL BELOUMOU OLOMO

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

In addition to businessman Jean-Pierre Amougou Belinga, arrested on Monday February 6, the authorities suspect agents of the intelligence services of being involved in the murder of journalist Martinez Zogo.

Military justice could inherit the case.

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With our correspondent in Yaoundé, 

Arrested at dawn on Monday February 6, 2023,

– three in total – spent their first night in one of the specialized services of the State Secretariat for Defence, SED.

For lawyer Claude Assira, " 

 " in this preliminary phase of the investigation into the assassination of journalist Martinez Zogo.

This detention period could even be extended to fifteen days.

Everything will depend here on the nature and qualification of the charges that will be brought against the people arrested.

In the first case, they will then be referred to a civil court or, in the other case, to the military tribunal.

For the lawyer, everything leads to believe that it is the military justice which will inherit the file, given that the military and the intelligence and state security services are cited.

Secret services involved?

The first arrests

, a few days after the

in a quarry about fifteen kilometers from Yaoundé, took place on January 31, 2023, around twenty according to sources.

Among the most significant, those of Maxime Eko Eko, the head of the General Directorate of External Research (DGRE), the Cameroonian secret services, and one of his close collaborators, Lieutenant-Colonel Justin Danwe, director of operations of this unit specializes in counterintelligence.

Several DGRE agents are indeed suspected of having been part of the commando which kidnapped, tortured and assassinated Martinez Zogo.

Several sources close to the investigation claim that there are links between these executioners at the end of the chain and influential personalities of the regime, including the very discreet, but oh so powerful Minister of State and Keeper of the Seals, Laurent Esso, as well that Jean-Pierre Amougou Belinga, the wealthy businessman and media magnate already arrested.

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