In Cameroon, confusion reigns in the case of Martinez Zogo, a journalist found murdered last January. During the day, the investigating judge had issued an order to request the provisional release of two of the main accused but the situation was turned upside down in the early evening.
1 min
For the lawyers of the two accused, the day had started well. The investigating judge issued an order in which he ordered the release of the intelligence boss, Léopold Maxime Eko Eko, and the businessman Jean-Pierre Amougou Belinga, two of the main defendants in this affair.
It was a real bolt from the blue in this ultra-sensitive matter. In this document, the magistrate explained that after various hearings and confrontations with one of their main accusers, Lieutenant-Colonel Justin Danwe, the detention of the two accused was “not no longer necessary for the manifestation of the truth “, according to the text.
Lawyers for both men then went to the military court. They claim to have discharged the order, that is, they signed to confirm receipt of the document. According to the procedure, the investigating judge was then to transmit it to the government commissioner, himself responsible for ordering the release of the two accused.
“ We refuse to believe it »
Except the liberation never came. The lawyers waited for hours in court and suddenly in the evening, in a new twist, a second document was circulated. A note from the judge saying that his order was in fact a forgery and that the two men should ultimately remain in custody.
Lawyers from both camps were stunned and denounced a scandal and manipulation. Me Calvin Job, lawyer for Martinez Zogo’s beneficiaries, has for the moment preferred not to comment on this double twist.
We react quite badly and with a lot of amazement.
Me Seri Simplice Zokou, lawyer for Leopold Maxime Eko Eko