Politics

Marafa is an Ordinary Criminal- Tchiroma

Published

7 years ago

July 18, 2016

The United Nations through one of its agencies the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) had made a major ruling. Marafa Hamidou Yaya is widely considered as a political prisoner. The agency has ruled that the Republic of Cameroon’s imprisonment of political prisoner, Marafa Hamidou Yaya, constitutes arbitrary detention in violation of international law and it is unlawful. The announcement was made at the group’s 75th session in the United Nations Headquarters in New York from April 18-27.

The group’s findings were disclosed first to the Government of Cameroon (GOC) two weeks before communicating them to Marafa’s lawyer on Monday, June 27, 2016. The decision comes on the heels of the recent judgment handed down by Cameroon’s highest court reducing Marafa’s prison sentence from 25 to 20 years for his role in the abortive purchase of a presidential aircraft for President Biya’s travels.The United Nations body has therefore demanded that Mr. Marafa be released immediately and be awarded compensation by the Government of Cameroon for the harm caused by being deprived of his liberty.

However, the Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakary granted a press conference in Yaounde on Friday, 16th July 2016 to discuss this recent development from the UN working group. The conference was organised to give details on the case opposing the Government of Cameroon and Marafa Hamidou Yaya.

During the press conference, the communication boss dwelled extensively on the Marafa Hamidou Yaya, Government of Cameroon case and the report of the UN working group on arbitrary detention. Tchiroma shamefully discredited the report asking for the immediate release of Marafa Hamidou Yaya saying he is not a political criminal as per the report but an ordinary criminal.

He noted that Marafa Hamidou Yaya was prosecuted and convicted by the government of Cameroon to a prison term of 20 yrs for charges of embezzlement of state funds. Marafa’s letter to the United Nations working group on arbitrary detention and the opinion of the group is not grounded as the UN working group is not conventional, the Minister indicated.

BaretaNews notes that Tchiroma has no moral authority to talk on Marafa case. This is someone who had early heavily chastised the regime of Paul Biya in all evil words one could possibly know, here he is defending the same regime. We all know for all it ends Marafa is a political prisoner. Minister Tchiroma will soon see his doom.

God is still saying something.