Members of the Cameroon government have condemned the manipulation of lawyers defending the imprisonment of former counsel Lydian Yen Eyoum and reasserted their mission to fight corruption.
Under the watchful eye of the Minister of Justice, Keeper of the Seals, Laurent Esso, the Minister of Communication, Issa Bakary Tchiroma said: "Lydian Yen Eyoum lawyers have taken to international radio to discredit the Cameroonian justice system. Enough! Cameroon is a sovereign state and we are proud of our justice."
Since last Monday, lawyers of Lydian, accused of embezzlement, have taken to the airwaves to denounce the arbitrary arrest of their client. The French advocates, who feel the whole procedure is illegal, decided to change their method by calling upon the help of the United Nations, the same procedure used in 2013 by lawyers of Michel Atangana.
They have required the assistance of the working group of the United Nations on Arbitrary Detention and the Special Rapporteurs on torture and the independence of judges to investigate prison conditions and the ongoing trial of Lydian.
They also filed a complaint in France for arbitrary detention and are concerned about the inaction of the two French judges hearing this sensitive case since March 2013. Lydian, a lawyer by profession who has been behind bars for four and a half years, can also count on the support of the Union lawyers in France.
According to the spokesman of the Cameroonian government, Lydian’s lawyers are in a campaign of manipulation and handling, which also involve the Western media.
Issa Bakary Tchiroma reasserted the government's determination to fight corruption: "The fight against corruption will continue to intensify, uncompromising, without discrimination, regardless of social status or political affiliation of the alleged harasser. No one can consider themselves above the law. And the Cameroonian justice is impartial and fair."
The Special Criminal Court, on April 3, 2014, issued 52 decisions. 26 defendants were acquitted and 51 convicted. Some have exercised remedies. The fines and court costs, they are respectively estimated at one million CFA francs and 602,323,612 FCFA. To date, the Special Criminal Court has already pronounced sentences amounting to 12, 164, 682,504 CFA francs as damages.
