Martinez Zogo trial resumes with missing Amougou Belinga phone back in focus ⁰

The trial over the killing of journalist Martinez Zogo is set to resume Monday, October 5, 2026, at the Yaoundé Military Court, with the continued testimony of Lt. Col. Dieudonné Bialo, head of the National Gendarmerie’s Central Judicial Investigations Service (SCRJ). The officer began his testimony on September 15 as the prosecution’s 35th witness.

His first appearance notably brought renewed attention to a phone attributed to Jean-Pierre Amougou Belinga that investigators have never recovered.

Questioned by Félicité Esther Zeifman, an attorney representing Martinez Zogo’s beneficiaries, Bialo said his service found that the device had stopped registering on telecommunications networks. That applied both to the number associated with its SIM card and to its IMEI number, which identifies the handset itself.

Investigators then traced the device to a man whose SIM card had been used in the phone they were trying to locate. Questioning him led investigators to a domestic employee of the Amougou Belinga household. According to statements presented in court, the employee said she had received the device from Melissa Amougou Belinga.

The phone is of particular interest because of statements Justin Danwe made during the investigation. The former director of operations at Cameroon’s General Directorate for External Research (DGRE) said he communicated with Jean-Pierre Amougou Belinga through the number associated with the device and had sent him images of Martinez Zogo.

Asked what additional steps might have been taken after attempts to locate the phone failed, Bialo said authorities could have sought Melissa Amougou Belinga’s arrest in an effort to recover the device.

The SCRJ chief nevertheless said investigators did not find, on the phones belonging to Danwe or Amougou Belinga that were examined during the investigation, the video whose transmission is mentioned in the case.

During the same hearing, however, Bialo said that, as a member of the joint investigative commission, he had watched short video clips that came from another device.

Asked about the possible involvement of senior government officials, Bialo also testified that the secretary-general of the Presidency, the finance minister and the justice minister did not appear in the investigations conducted by his service.

The officer also clarified the SCRJ’s role during the early stages of the case. According to Bialo, the service did not carry out formal investigative acts but provided support to the Center Gendarmerie Legion, particularly with searches of the surrounding area, analysis of surveillance footage and the tracking of phones and other electronic devices.

The missing phone had already surfaced during earlier hearings, including testimony from experts and Col. Jean-Pierre Otoulou, the former commander of the Center Gendarmerie Legion.

The trial opened on March 25, 2024, and entered the examination of the merits of the case on September 1, 2025, when the court began hearing prosecution witnesses.

Source: Sbbc