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Cameroon anglophone separatist leader handed life sentence Cameroon anglophone separatist leader handed life sentence
(about 4 hours later)
A military court in Cameroon has handed a life sentence to the head of the country’s anglophone separatist movement, Julius Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, and nine of his followers, lawyers said. A military court in Cameroon has sentenced 10 leaders of the country’s anglophone separatist movement to life imprisonment in what activists have described as a sham trial.
The 10 were convicted of charges including “terrorism and secession”, the state’s lawyer, Martin Luther Achet, told Agence France-Presse. The head of the movement, Julius Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, and nine of his followers were convicted of charges including terrorism and secession and given a fine of $350m (£286m) after an all-night sitting by the court.
The sentence was confirmed by a lawyer for the separatists, Joseph Fru, who condemned what he called a “parody of justice”. The separatist leaders sang protest songs as the sentence was handed down in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The defendants refused to recognise the right of the military tribunal in Yaoundé to try them. Their lawyers have yet to say whether they will file an appeal. The severity of the sentence has raised fears that the bloody conflict playing out in Cameroon’s anglophone regions between separatist rebels and military forces will be prolonged, and that no ceasefire will be possible.
Ayuk Tabe, a charismatic 54-year-old computer engineer by training, was the first self-proclaimed president of “Ambazonia” – a breakaway state declared in October 2017 in two English-speaking regions of the central African country. In January 2018, Ayuk Tabe was arrested with 46 other separatists in a hotel in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, allegedly by Nigerian special forces. They were then handed over to Cameroon – a move that was ruled illegal by a Nigerian court in March this year.
The government responded with a military crackdown. The defendants refused to recognise the right of the military tribunal in Yaounde to try them. Their lawyers are meeting to draft an appeal, which has to be filed within 10 days.
Attacks by both sides have left 1,850 dead, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG) thinktank, while the UN says 530,000 people have fled their homes. Felix Agbor Balla, a leading human rights advocate in Cameroon, described the decision as a sham which would cause a lot of anger among anglophones.
English-speakers account for about a fifth of Cameroon’s population of 24 million, who are majority French-speaking. Anglophones are mainly concentrated in two western areas, the North-west and South-west regions, that were incorporated into the French-speaking state after the colonial era in Africa wound down six decades ago. He said: “Sentencing Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and co will not solve the problems we have in Cameroon. It will instead aggravate the problem.”
Anglophones have chafed for years at perceived discrimination in education, law and economic opportunities at the hands of the francophone majority.
Ayuk Tabe is part of the political branch of the separatist group that supports dialogue with President Paul Biya.
But the influence of moderates waned in 2017 as Biya, who has been in power for 36 years, rejected demands for autonomy and radicals in the movement gained the ascendancy.
In January 2018, Ayuk Tabe was arrested with 46 other separatists in the Nigerian capital Abuja.
They were then handed over to Cameroon – a move that was ruled illegal by a Nigerian court in March this year.
Violence in Cameroon’s anglophone regions ‘spiralling out of control’Violence in Cameroon’s anglophone regions ‘spiralling out of control’
In late May, Ayuk Tabe said he was willing to take part in talks with the government, provided this took place abroad and the government released all who had been detained since the start of the anglophone crisis. Ayuk Tabe, a charismatic 54-year-old computer engineer by training, was the first self-proclaimed president of “Ambazonia” – a breakaway state declared in October 2017 in two English-speaking regions of the central African country.
Last month, Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the security forces of committing “brazen crimes” against citizens, including unlawful killings and use of excessive force. The government responded with a military crackdown. Nearly 2,000 people are thoughts to have died and 530,000 have fled their homes.
The authorities, while rejecting general criticism, have acknowledged a small number of abuses. One of the defence lawyers, Christopher Ngong, said they had asked for the military judge to be recused and had walked out of the hearings in protest at the judge’s decision to continue the case. He said the ruling had been prearranged by the court.
In June, the defence ministry said it would prosecute seven soldiers suspected of summarily killing two women and their two children, a video of which was distributed on the internet to widespread outrage. Ngong said: “Since they had a hidden agenda, that they were going to pass judgment at all costs, so they went on with the matter, despite the fact that the accused persons were singing songs in court.”
The unrest has crippled the economy of the North-west and South-west regions and had a knock-on effect across the country. With thousands of children in the crisis-hit areas out of education for several years, the government has been trying to promote a back-to-school campaign. Many anglophone Cameroonians think this will be jeopardised by the court’s decision and expect the president, Paul Biya, to issue a pardon for the leaders.
More than one in six people in Cameroon – 4.3 million – need humanitarian aid, an increase of 30% from 2018, according to UN aid officials.
CameroonCameroon
AfricaAfrica
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