IGLHRC reports that the government of Cameroon continues to refuse to release the 9 men aquitted of homosexuality charges on the 21st April 2006

In a further travesty of justice, the government is forcing the men to stand trial again. The men have been detained in Kondegui Prison in Yaoundé for nearly a year. At their initial trial, no witnesses were called and no proof offered by the prosecution, so Judge Tonye, the magistrate overseeing the case, declared the men innocent of all charges. The men expected to be released from prison quickly but the prosecutor’s office has refused to order their release and has said that the men will be retried.

“You arrest people unfairly, violate their rights for almost a year, and then refuse to release them—this constitutes an abuse of power,” Duga Titanji, the men’s attorney in Cameroon, told IGLHRC. “This development constitutes a major violation of due process. With no new arrest warrant being served, this is now a blatant case of arbitrary detention.”