CAR presidential candidate arrested with Cameroonian passport

Michel Amine, President of the national union for democracy and progress (UNDP), candidate for the next presidential election in Central Africa, was arrested Tuesday in Bangui.

Mr. Michel Amine was attempting to embark on board the Air France flight to Paris (France). He was arrested there and then detained at the police station of Port upstream in Bangui.

"Mr. Amine was intercepted by Bangui police at M'poko airport at the time while undergoing formalities for a ship bound for Paris," said Jules Mamadou responsible for communication at the UNDP party cell.

According to the national gendarmerie, that candidate, fears for his financial power, holds 3 different passports.

Arrested for making use of a Cameroonian airport passport while in Ledger (a 5-star hotel in the capital where he used to stay during his stays in homeland), he introduced another foreign, afghan passports", said an official of the gendarmerie.

Contacted by telephone, Mr. Amine denied the facts and described it as arbitrary arrest. "My arrest is purely arbitrary. The Commander of the gendarmerie did not notify me, and presented no arrest warrant. The parquet floors where I was led in a first time, the Attorney of the Republic who had also left the office was amazed at my arrest because he was attached to the phone. I understood then that was the Minister of public safety who put me on examination,"explained Michel Amine.

He also denied holding more than two passports. I have a Central African Republic passport and a Cameroonian passport. I always traveled with these two documents. I repeatedly leave Bangui with the Cameroonian Passport and I was never disturbed. Why is it a problem today?. I'm Central African strain but adopted in Cameroon. It is never forbidden to an individual having two passports.

Within his party, fingers are pointing to the former members of the Political bureau who were stripped of their function for fraud and breach of trust. "Since president Amine took the decision to send them out of the party, they promised to do everything to harm him," said Jules Mamadou.