Abdul Karim Ali – AKA whose recent condemnation of the seizure of ID cards by separatists from travellers to the North West was seen as a shift from his diehard support for the Southern Cameroons quest for independence, has been sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia.
It was believed that his apparent withdrawal of support for the separatists, citing international law would reduce hostility to him by the Biya regime, but the Military Tribunal Holden in the capital city of Yaoundé, Cameroon, under a 3-man panel of magistrates, on April 16, 2025, slammed him life jail three years.
His lawyer Barrister Joseph Awah Fru, said the sentence came three years after the Muslim scholar was arrested in Bamenda, North West region, before being transferred to Yaounde.
It was also revealed that Mr. Karim refused to appear in court throughout the process. “In May 2024, AKA through Counsel, formally put the Tribunal on notice renouncing its jurisdiction over his person, as a Southern Cameroons citizen – AKA was categorical, in that letter, as he fervently is now, that he is an Ambazonian and hence not ready to surrender to the annexationist jurisdiction of La République du Cameroun.”
The legal mind said they will concert with Abdul Karim Ali concerning this sentence.
