The military tribunal in Yaoundé has been calling numerous witnesses to the stand in the high-profile murder trial of journalist Martinez Zogo, who was killed in January 2023 by an alleged hit squad from the state’s counter-espionage service, the Directorate General of External Research (DGRE).

The Government Commissioner, Lieutenant Colonel Cerlin Belinga, presented a list of 47 witnesses, including two dozen gendarmes, police officers, and civilians. Key security officials expected to testify include Colonel Otoulou, head of the Central Gendarmerie Legion, and Lieutenant Colonel Ayissi Arnaud, commander of the sensitive Yaoundé gendarmerie unit.

Key Witness Testimony Heard

Eight witnesses have already testified. They include one of the forensic doctors who performed an autopsy on the journalist’s body and the commander of the Mfou company, which had jurisdiction over the area where Zogo’s body was found.

Hearings on September 22 and 23 involved five other witnesses, including the former chief of the Central Post gendarmerie station in Yaoundé. This official had been contacted by Lieutenant Colonel Justin Danwe, a senior DGRE officer and key suspect, who allegedly requested that Zogo be severely punished.

A critical witness was Sandra Mekuete, a 19-year-old woman and the only known eyewitness to the kidnapping, which occurred on January 17, 2023, around 9:45 p.m. She recounted seeing the scene from her mother’s bar, located opposite the Nkol-Nkondi gendarmerie post.

She recounted the scene: “A car hit the gendarmerie gate. A man got out of the vehicle, but the car backed up and threw him onto the road.” As another car pulled up, four men jumped out and seized the victim. “He screamed: ‘Help, save me, they want to murder me!'” Mekuete testified that the men then applied “something on his neck that struck him and he became weak” before they forced him into the car and drove off. She estimated the entire incident lasted about five minutes, noting the kidnappers, all in black except one wearing blue sweatpants, drove a black Toyota Prado.

Conflicting Accounts on the Stand

However, three gendarmes who were on duty that night offered conflicting statements. Warrant Officer Elinge Yunishe Mbusa, chief of the Nkol-Nkondi gendarmerie post at the time, along with Master Sergeants James Fredie Minlo and Nyeb Abonke Judih, affirmed that Zogo’s Toyota Yaris had struck their post’s gate before being rammed from behind by another vehicle. They testified they did not hear the victim’s cries for help.

Investigators recovered several documents from Zogo’s Toyota Yaris, including one file bearing his name and another addressed “To the Minister Delegate at the Presidency of the Republic, in charge of the Supreme State Audit.” Two phones were also discovered, including a smartphone the victim reportedly managed to hide under the pedals.

Witness interrogations can last several hours, involving examinations by the civil party, cross-examination by the defense, and questions from the government commissioner. For example, Second Lieutenant Legrand Ngamby was questioned on September 22 from noon until 5 p.m.

The trial was adjourned to October 13-14, 2025. It remains possible that not all witnesses on the list will be called to testify. 

Source: Sbbc

A key moment during the September 22 hearing at the Yaoundé military tribunal was the testimony of prosecution witness Legrand Gastien Ngamby Kwimang, a sub-lieutenant who commanded the central post brigade at the time of journalist Martinez Zogo’s abduction, torture, and killing. Zogo was allegedly targeted by a commando linked to Cameroon’s external intelligence service (DGRE).

Questioned for nearly six hours, Ngamby detailed his interactions with Lieutenant Colonel Justin Danwe, then director of operations at the DGRE and considered a key defendant.

“Give him a good lesson”

Ngamby said that in late December 2022, Danwe visited his office and told him: “There is a man speaking badly about my boss. I want him to be given a good lesson.” When Ngamby asked who it was, Danwe replied: “It is Martinez Zogo.”

Although he did not see Danwe again, the two continued communicating via WhatsApp.

Orders by message

On January 3, 2023, Danwe allegedly instructed him to ensure “absolute discretion” and avoid sharing details with the men he would mobilize, adding that the “target lives in Tsinga village.” Ngamby said he did not act on these instructions.

Two weeks later, on January 17, Danwe messaged again: “The case I told you about does not interest you. The police have taken over. Delete all messages.”

After Zogo’s disappearance on January 18, Danwe told him: “Given how things are turning out, say nothing to anyone. It seems the police are after him.”

Ngamby says he did not delete the exchanges and reported them on January 19 to his superior, Lieutenant Colonel Parfait Arnaud Ayissi Nanga. Days later, Zogo’s mutilated body was discovered outside Yaoundé, prompting the head of state to order a joint police-gendarmerie inquiry.

On January 25, Danwe contacted Ngamby again, asking: “Are you in the Martinez Zogo inquiry commission? What is happening? I heard the police have some videos.”

Contradictions highlighted

Defense lawyers pointed out contradictions in Ngamby’s testimony compared to his February 2023 statement. Promoted a year later to sub-lieutenant, he now denied ever being threatened, despite telling investigators he had feared for his life and his family’s.

With several inconsistencies still unresolved, the tribunal adjourned proceedings to September 23.

Source: Sbbc

The Cameroonian authorities must immediately release 36 opposition supporters arbitrarily detained for five years for exercising their right to peaceful assembly and put an end to arbitrary detention in the country, Amnesty International said on the fifth anniversary of their arrest.

On 22 September 2020, over 500 people were arbitrarily arrested for participating in peaceful protests organized by the opposition party ‘Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon’ (MRC) in several cities across the country. Of the protesters arrested 36 remain in detention, languishing in Kondengui prison in Yaoundé after being sentenced by a military court to between five- and seven-years’ imprisonment.

“The Cameroonian authorities must immediately release these individuals, who have committed no crime other than to express their opinion,” said Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa.

We are deeply disappointed that the authorities have failed to recognize the arbitrary nature of the ongoing detention of these protesters.

“The authorities must address these concerns and ensure that no person is arbitrarily arrested or detained solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. The authorities must also refrain from trying civilians in military courts, as it is incompatible with the right to a fair trial and therefore in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.”

By the end of September, 24 of those imprisoned will have served their five-year sentences. Among them, one has suffered three strokes but has not been released on medical grounds despite their requests, according to the lawyer Hippolyte Meli Tiakouang, coordinator of a collective defending detained opposition supporters.

“Thirty-six appeals have been lodged since 2022 with the Supreme Court of Cameroon, which has not yet ruled on any of them. The delays are unreasonable. One might think that judiciary drag things out so that the sentences handed down will be carried out” said Hippolyte Meli Tiakouang.

On 4 November 2022, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention published an opinion which found that the detention of 15 of the MRC leaders and activists was arbitrary. 

“We are deeply disappointed that the authorities have failed to recognize the arbitrary nature of the ongoing detention of these protesters,” said Marceau Sivieude.

Increasing wrongful arrests and detentions ahead of presidential election

A few weeks ahead of the presidential election in which President Paul Biya runs for an eighth term, restrictions on civic and democratic space are worsening, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned on 2 September.

This travesty of justice must end.

On 4 August, at least 54 MRC supporters were arrested next to the Constitutional Council in Yaoundé during pre-election dispute hearings, according to Hippolyte Meli Tiakouang. All of them are now on bail. Twenty-three are facing prosecution for allegedly inciting revolt and disturbing public order, and if convicted face several years in prison.

On 9 August, a man who posted videos calling for demonstrations against the rejection of the candidacy of MRC leader Maurice Kamto was arrested and has been held at New Bell prison in Douala on the orders of the Douala military court. According to his lawyers, he is being prosecuted for ‘publicly condoning the crime of undermining the internal security of the state’.

“These opposition supporters should never have been arrested in the first place. The fact that they were arrested points to the alarming crackdown on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in Cameroon. The charges against those who are prosecuted for exercising their human rights must be dropped,” said Marceau Sivieude.

“In recent years, anyone who dares criticize the authorities, whether a human rights defender, a journalist, a political activist or a protester, runs the risk of being arbitrarily arrested and detained, tortured or otherwise ill-treated, and tried by military courts. Unfortunately, this trend increases as the presidential election approaches. This travesty of justice must end.”

“The authorities must uphold the country’s international human rights obligations including under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Cameroon is a state party.”

President Paul Biya, 92, who has been in power in Cameroon for nearly 43 years, will face 11 other candidates in his bid for a new seven-year term on 12 October.