UPDATE 1-Cameroon's main opposition leader charged with rebellion -lawyer
Security services broke up that rally with live fire, shooting and wounding six people, and have put down other rare anti-Biya protests across the country, including the main commercial city Douala and the capital Yaounde, since the vote. There was no immediate comment from Kamto's party and supporters whether the charges made against him on Tuesday would trigger more demonstrations.
"The investigating judges charged Maurice Kamto at the military tribunal," his lawyer Christopher Ndong told Reuters. "This is not a judicial matter. This is politics." Another of his lawyers, Emmanuel Simh, told Reuters the charges he faces include: "hostility against the homeland, incitement to insurrection, offence against the president of the republic, destruction of public buildings and goods."
Twenty-two members of his Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC) are also on trial for the same charges, lawyers said. Cameroon authorities could not immediately be reached for comment. Rights groups have accused Biya, 85, of silencing opposition voices throughout his 36-years ruling the central African cocoa and oil exporter - charges he denies.
Unrest has historically been rare in Cameroon, and when it happens it tends to be quelled with overwhelming force. Protests erupted in its troubled western Anglophone region more than two years ago, and after they were repressed they morphed into a low level rebellion.
The United States this month said it would withhold some military aid over allegations of human rights violations, but in the same week France said its defence cooperation with Cameroon would continue. (Writing by Tim Cocks; editing by John Stonestreet and Andrew Heavens)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- Criminal defense lawyer
- Personal injury lawyer
- Indonesia Lawyers Club
- Supreme court
- United States district court
- Legal case
- Another Eden
- Not Another Teen Movie
- Another Cinderella Story
- Thomson Reuters Corporation
- Reuters Instrument Code
- Thomson Reuters Foundation
- United States federal judge
- Grocery store
- Dancing with the Stars
- France Info
- France 3
- France Inter
- United States of America
- Midwestern United States
ALSO READ
"Attractive people are perceived as more trustworthy, study finds"
During elections, some people will try to engineer riots; don't fall prey to the plot: Mamata at Eid prayer in Kolkata.
Echoes of 'Phir Ek Baar Modi Sarkar' being heard across country as people have seen what stable govt can do: PM at rally in Uttarakhand.
Enemies took advantage, terrorism spread whenever there were weak, unstable governments in country: PM Modi in Uttarakhand's Rishikesh
Nine people killed as boat capsizes in Mediterranean, Italy coast guard says