AgborBalla, Fontem&Mancho case
adjourned to April 27
By Nche Jude Mbah in Yaounde
 |
| Balla and Mancho visibly in high spirits at Military Court |
Barrister Felix AgborBalla, Dr. FontemNeba
and ManchoBibixy appeared at the Yaounde Military Tribunal last Thursday 23th
of March with high spirits ready to counter claims from a list of government
witnesses over charges of terrorism, insurrection, rebellion against the state
and secession amongst other crimes.
But
they were stunned when the Prosecuting bench hatched another scheme. Instead of
beginning the trial as expected, the bench rather moved a motion to merge the
case of some 25 suspects also linked to the upheavals in the Anglophone regions
with that of the activists in line with section 6 of the criminal Procedure
code. The state prosecutor who launched the bid believes it was normal to put
all the cases in one and judge them together since to him the charges are
similar and linked to each other.
The college of defence counsels upon hearing this demanded a 30-minute
recess to enable them to concert on the motion.
When
the session resumed, the lawyers used the same legal instrument to counter the
prosecuting bench. They made it clear to the presiding judge that it was a
miscarriage of justice to treat all the cases as one since they are different
from each other.
Barrister Ben Muna and co argued that someone who was arrested with no
charge on him cannot be prosecuted for terrorism. If the prosecution were to
have its way, it means justice will be unfair on many innocent people and those
with minor crimes like the non-possession of Identity cards.
Commentators in court said the state was playing dalay tactics.
“AgborBalla,
FontemNeba and ManchoBibixy have already been deprived of their liberty for 65
days. Yet, today, no progress has been made on their case. The court spent its
time verifying the names and identification of 25 other defendants, who were
arrested during the incidents of December 8, 2016. I sat flabbergasted as the
chief judge personally verified elements of the identity of each defendant:
spellings of names, marital status and number of children. I am stunned. How is
this that this was not done before? These people have been in detention for
months! Why has someone not written down their names and verified the
spelling?! Is this what we use senior judges for? In a highly sensitive
political case that impacts the country in general and the lives of over 5
million people in two regions in particular?!, regretted Kah Walla, leader of
opposition CPP party.
She added: “When the ordeal of name-reading was completed, the state
prosecutor petitioned to have the case of the 25 defendants joined to that of
AgborBalla, FontemNeba and ManchoBibixy. Defense lawyers requested 30 minutes
to concert and determine their response.
Upon resumption, defense lawyers argued that the two cases cannot be
joined due to the fact that they do not consist of the same charges, nor the
same persons, nor having been committed at the same place. They urged the judge
to get on to the content of the case, reminding that when the case was first
postponed at the last session on February 13th, it was to enable the state
counsel to produce a list of witnesses and for these witnesses to be heard.
Defense
lawyers also underlined that even though procedure states that the list of
witnesses should be provided 5 days before trial, they were handed a list only
the night before at 6:00 p.m. Despite this violation of procedure, the defense
lawyers insisted they were ready to hear the witnesses.
All concerned are now waiting with baited breath, convinced that they
will finally hear more about the charges of terrorism, incitement to
insurrection, revolution, etc. that have caused these men to be put on trial
and their lives to be put at stake.
After arguments and counter arguments, the judge decided that a decision
on whether or not the two cases should be joined together as one will be taken
on 7 April 2017, while the substantive matter will be heard on April 27th.
This left the entire court visibly frustrated and disappointed.
“These boys have been deprived of their
liberty for 65 days and counting. This is their 3rd court appearance, yet we
have spent over 4 hours only listening to arguments on procedure without
hearing the content of the case,” observed a commentator.
“There is no other conclusion to be arrived at other than that there is
a delaying strategy by the State. The theory that government simply feels it
can wear down the Anglophone movement through violence, fear and time appears
more real than ever,” concluded Edith Kah Walla, who was present in court
throughout the marathon session
SDF
chairman FruNdi also made a surprise appearance in court.
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