Credit: © Borigue/Flickr/ Cameroon  Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon (MRC) opposition leader Maurice Kamto was arrested by Cameroonian authorities  in January 2019 and charged with insurrection.

By Gary Raynaldo    /   DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

UNITED NATIONS  –  NEW YORK –   Cameroon’s main opposition leader, Maurice Kamto, was released from prison in Yaounde Saturday, following President Paul Biya’s request to prosecutors to drop charges against him.  The Cameroon government was subjected to relentless,  heavy international pressure to free Kamto ever since he was incarcerated  Jan. 28, 2019.  Kamto, who insists he won last October’s presidential election, was arrested and charged with insurrection.  Biya,  an 86-year-old veteran leader,  who has ruled Cameroon for 36 years, was  sworn in last November as the Central African country’s  President for a seventh term. The opposition accused the October 7 elections of being rigged in favor of Biya.  Kamto and more than 150 supporters were arrested in January after taking part in anti-government demonstrations, and are being tried in military courts for charges including ‘hostility to the homeland’. In addition to  Kamto, several supporters were also released. The leader of the Mouvement pour la Rennaisaance du Cameroun (MRC), left a prison in Yaounde on Saturday, one day after President Biya announced  charges against him would be dropped.

 “The UN Secretary-General is encouraged by the release of the leader of the main opposition party in Cameroon.  Maurice Kamto had spent the past nine months in jail following peaceful protests disputing the outcome of the October 2018 presidential election in which he was a candidate,”  statement from  UN-SG António Guterres.

“The Secretary-General also welcomes the holding of the National Dialogue and encourages meaningful follow-up.  He reiterates the readiness of the United Nations to assist the authorities and the people of Cameroon in this regard,” the statement concluded.  Over the past two years, separatists in the North-West and South-West regions have stepped up their campaign for independence, resulting in death and destruction.

European  Union  Criticizes Cameroon’s Treatment of Opposition Activists

Credit:  European Union  /  Federica Mogherini ,  High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

“The arrest and prolonged detention of several leaders of an opposition party, including its leader Maurice Kamto, and a large number of protesters and supporters, as well as the opening of disproportionate proceedings against them military justice, increases the political malaise in Cameroon. The rule of law calls for fair justice and the release of detainees against whom evidentiary evidence can not be presented.”

Federica Mogherini ,  High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.