Yaoundé – Four activists from Cameroon’s Stand Up for Cameroon pressure group received 16-month jail terms on Friday for “insurrection”, after being arrested last year.
The group said a military tribunal in Douala had handed down the punishments to the quartet, adding they must also pay costs of 376 000 CFA francs (570 euros/$650).
The four were arrested after attending a meeting at offices of the opposition Cameroon People’s Party (CPP) in the country’s business hub Douala in September last year, since when they had been in detention.
Rejecting the sentences as unjust, Stand Up for Cameroon said they only served “to underpin (our) commitment to deep and systematic change in the running of our country.”
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The group recalled another of its number, Nana Collins, had previously been handed an 18-month sentence.
Opposition groups – notably the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC) – staged a rally on September 22, 2020 against President Paul Biya, 88, who has ruled the country for 29 years.
This week also saw more than 50 supporters of opposition leader Maurice Kamto handed jail terms of up to seven years for sedition.
Police violently dispersed those who answered the call to march, making some 500 arrests nationwide.
The MRC says 124 remain in detention.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Getty Images
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