Treason trial delayed
Publish date: 09 September 2019
Issue Number: 840
Diary: IBA Legalbrief Africa
Category: Cameroon
Cameroonian opposition leader Maurice Kamto and his 90 co-accused have appeared briefly before a Yaounde military tribunal on charges of insurrection and rebellion after rejecting the outcome of last year’s presidential election. Deutsche Welle reports that Kamto has spent months protesting the outcome of the poll that gave Paul Biya a seventh term in office. The charges he and his co-accused are facing carry the death penalty. The court proceedings were suspended and adjourned to 8 October after defendant Penda Ekoka fainted in the dock. The trial is the culmination of a brutal crackdown on opposition politicians following the election. International pressure is mounting on Biya over the case.