Statement from Barrister Akere Muna on the events of this week:
On March 20, 2017, I received a summons requiring that I show up to the National Defense Secretariat (SED) on Wednesday, March 23. Due to a prior commitment, I informed the SED of my intention to fulfill my professional commitments in South Africa on that day, offering instead to have the hearing on the morning of Friday, March 24.
I was accompanied to SED on Friday morning by the President of the Cameroon Bar Association, as well as four former presidents of the Bar and many members of the Bar Council. On arrival, I found over a hundred lawyers waiting outside. They waited patiently outside while I was being heard by a Lieutenant of the gendarmerie. These are the charges that were levied against me:
– Hostility toward the homeland
– Advocating terrorism
– Secession
– Revolution
– Insurrection
– Compromising the security of the State
These charges, it would seem, stemmed from the content of articles that I had published in the “Le Jour” daily newspaper. The first article appeared on December 19, 2016, entitled “The Inevitable Nature of Change” in which I examine the futility of resisting change. The second appeared on January 10, 2017, entitled “Cameroon is One and Indivisible: Which Cameroon?” in which I discuss the questions of unity that plague our country.
The investigation, I was informed, was opened at the request of the Commissioner of Government at the Military Tribunal. I responded to all the questions asked truthfully, reaffirming my convictions and standing behind the words I wrote in those articles. After a few hours I was allowed to leave the gendarmerie. The report of the investigation will be transmitted to the commissioner of government.
I am grateful for the outpour of kindness and support that I received from well-wishers both online and off. To those who, fearing for my safety, encouraged me to stay away from Cameroon, I say thank you for your concern, but my conscience is my judge and I believe am not guilty of wrongdoing. I love my country and I will always speak up in the interest of a better tomorrow.
Akere T. Muna
