“Arbitrary” arrest, torture of colleague in Douala: Bar Council president condemns gov’t’s crackdown on lawyers, threatens legal redress.

The Batonnier, in an interview granted The Guardian Post, late yesterday, frowned at the high-handedness and threats on lawyers in the city of Douala by security forces.

A recent case, he said, was the “arbitrary” arrest and “torture” of Barrister Fabien Kengne. 

Barrister Kengne, it is said, was picked up manu militari at the door-steps of the Equinoxe TV head office in Akwa, Douala, after taking part in a debate programme, Equinoxe Soir, Monday night. 

The Bar Council president told The Guardian Post that his colleague, Barrister Kengne, “was surprised that two cars and a bike just appeared from nowhere; two persons came out of it. One was dressed in what he could identify as a T-shirt bearing SEMIL. One said to him: ‘This is SEMIL. Get into the car’”.

Barrister Kengne is said to have resisted the arrest and demanded to see the warrant for his arrest.

“He said ‘even if you want to arrest me, you don’t arrest people in violation of the criminal procedure code. There is no warrant and where do you want to take me to? And what is my offence?,’” the Batonnier further explained. 

He lamented that the security officers “pounced on him, brutalised and forced him into the car and whisked him off manu militari”.

It is reported that other members of the panel also immediately alerted the representative of the Bar Council boss in the Littoral Region. 

It is reported that after a serious search, it was discovered that Barrister Kengne was being held in custody at the Gendarmerie head quarter in Douala. 

Though the reason for the arrest was not disclosed, Barrister Kengne was reportedly interrogated on “his political involvements and related issue,” before being released.

Barrister Kengne is one of the lawyers of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement, MRC party. 

The arrest and torture of the legal practitioner comes few months after another lawyer was stabbed to death in the same city. 

Worst form of barbarism 

According to the Batonnier, this “arbitrary arrest” is the “worst form of barbarism on the profession”. 

“To us, he was not arrested. He was actually kidnapped,” he stated, adding that “the forces that picked up Barrister Kengne were half masked. This goes to increase the insecurity we have been facing in Cameroon and particularly in Douala”. 

Condemning the incident, the President of the Cameroon Bar called on the international community to take note of the repeated crackdown on not only lawyers but journalists as well. 

“We are condemning this and we are drawing the attention of the international community to the fact that this is the worst form of barbarism against lawyers and against the freedom of expression. All of this is because of his political expression and the fact that he participated in a TV programme,” the Batonnier lambasted. 

He re-echoed that “this is the plight that has been befalling journalists and lawyers in Cameroon in recent times by police or gendarmes officers”.

“We are going to seek for redress to make sure these officers that were masked are unmasked, identified and justice be done,” he added. 

Quizzed on whether the Bar intends to take the case to court, the Batonnier said: “We want justice in any form”. 

He however called on his colleague lawyers to remain calm in spite of the “acts of provocation” by security forces.