Will he be Freed or will he be Jailed?

Military Judge to Decide Mancho Bibixy’s Fate Next Week

-Several Anglophone activists already slammed heavy jail terms

By Innocent Kum in Yaounde

Penn Terence slammed 12 years in jail by the military judge

At least four Anglophone activists who for months have been held at the Yaounde Kondengui Maximum security prison were last week handed heavy jail terms by the Yaounde military tribunal.

            While Terence Penn Khan who was charged with terrorism, secession, group rebellion and incitement to civil war was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment and a fine of 5 million FCFA, Che Benjamin and Ambeizi Andrew were each handed 11-year jail terms during the a lengthy  court session Tuesday, April 10.

            On Friday, April 13, yet another Anglophone activist, Ngalim Felix, who was arrested amidst the ongoing socio-political tension in the North West and South West regions, was slammed an 11 year jail term by the military judge.

            However, Coffin revolutionist, Mancho Bibixy who appeared in court same day had his case adjourned to April 24. It is most likely that his fate just like that of other Anglophone detainees who are being jointly tried will be decided same day.

            Sentencing Penn Terrence earlier on Tuesday, the Judge of the Yaounde military court said he found him guilty of several counts including notably complicity to secession, complicity in financing terrorism, hostility to the fatherland and complicity to incite rebellion.

            Before listening to the judge’s verdict, Penn Terence told the court that political decisions and not court sentences will resolve the socio-political tensions in the North West and South West regions.

            In a letter he read out before judges at the military tribunal, Penn, a trained school teacher who was vice principal of CCAST Bambili, told the court: “Dear Madam President and Government Commissioner (Prosecutor) of this Tribunal, as this process draws to its end, I think it is time for me to give my final word before you pass your long-awaited judgment……The abduction, incarceration and trial that I have been subjected to before this Tribunal is political and challenges the foundational basis of this country-Cameroon. Trial of civilians by military tribunals contravenes the right to a fair trial by a competent, independent and impartial court. Not being a member of the army or the owner of any military weapon, this trial has violated all my rights as guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1945), the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights and even the fundamental rights to a fair trial as laid down in the preamble of the 1996 constitution of the Republic of Cameroon. I wish to emphasis that this trial has been illegal from the start. How else do you explain the fact that I was illegally abducted in Bamenda since January 16, 2017 for acts allegedly committed there but put on trial before a military tribunal in Yaounde instead of Bamenda? How do you explain the fact that throughout the trial, this court has shamelessly acted as Prosecutor and Judge at the same time? No fair-minded person can expect justice from this type of charade trial.               The Anglo-Saxon system of criminal justice that is supposed to be applied in the English- speaking North West and South West regions of this country demands that justice is not only done but seen to be done. Those are the principles for which I am prepared, if need be, to pay the ultimate price. The charges against my person have all been trumped up with the court presenting no proof to any of the charges, the reason being that they do not exist. I am neither a terrorist nor a secessionist but the political nature of the trial makes it possible for the court to slam the “Guilty Verdict” on me. If the term or word ‘terrorism’ is an attribute to people and individuals who decry societal injustice and inequality, then find me guilty again because these are the reasons for which I stand before you today. No tribunal including the one over which you preside can solve the ‘Anglophone problem’ in this country because it is political. It requires more of a political will rather than court cases to see it through. That is why the United Nations, the African Union and other international organisations have consistently advised the government country to address the root cause if she wants to solve the political imbroglio facing the country.