It was feared Me Alice Nkom would be detained after her summons at the central judicial investigation service of the national gendarmerie in Yaoundé (SCRJ)on Monday, but the human rights lawyer returned unscathed. A complaint deposited there by Mr. KoulouEngoulou Lilian Maurice of the Observatoire du Développement Social had accused her of ‘endangering state security’ and ‘financing terrorism,’ but the 80-year-old lawyer who was accompanied by the chairperson of the board of directors of Redhac, Me Fotso, and Me Meli, both lawyers at the Cameroon Bar is reported to have responded to the charges convincingly.
“Our client Me Alice Nkom has returned from the SCRJ where she responded to the summons related to the military judicial investigations opened based on the complaint (which went viral on social media) by Mr. KoulouEngoulou Lilian Maurice of the Observatoire du Développement Social. She answered all the questions, and we are awaiting the confrontation phase,” wrote one of Alice Nkom’s lawyers on Facebook, adding that the public will be kept informed of the developments. According to her lawyers, the next steps in the case are expected in the coming weeks.
The issue stems from a peace and transition forum she attended five years ago in Munich. This forum was organized by a Cameroonian diaspora organization.
Public figures in Cameroon, including Me Emmanuel Simh and Kah Walla, have criticized these accusations as baseless, both having requested to be summoned as they also participated in the same forum.
