Julius Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his nine co-defendants, sentenced on 20 August 2019 to life imprisonment by the Military Court of Yaoundé, have appealed this decision to the Court of Appeal of the Center, Cameroon-Info.net .
The request of the separatist leaders was filed on August 26 by their lawyers, informs a source close to the file.
Benjamin Suh , a member of the defense council, denounces the fact that their clients were sentenced in the absence of their lawyers. He also points out that the military court does not have jurisdiction to try civilians.
As a reminder, the ten independence leaders were found guilty of secession , terrorism , hostility against the State of Cameroon and not possession of Cameroonian ID . In addition to life imprisonment, they must pay more than 260 billion FCFA of fine.
Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his companions were arrested in Nigeria in January 2018 and extradited to Cameroon. Yaoundé holds them responsible for the crisis in the north-west and south-west regions, which has left about 2,000 dead and nearly 530,000 displaced in three years.
In 2017, a year after the crisis, Ayuk Tabe had proclaimed himself president of the imaginary state of Ambazonia in the English-speaking part of Cameroon.
Fred BIHINA