Cameroon-France: Judicial cooperation at a standstill

François Hollande will visit Yaoundé on Friday and one of the hot issues between the two countries remains judicial cooperation.

More than 50 international letter rogatory issued by the French justice have not received a response from the Cameroonian authorities.

According to a ministerial source, the fifty-three international letter rogatory issued by the French justice gives any judicial authority of another State the power to make instructive acts.

Among the « CRI » between France and Cameroon includes that of the case of Lydienne Yen Eyoum. As part of a statement by Justice Sabine Kheris, the French justice hopes to obtain information to examine the complaint filed by the defence of the Franco-Cameroonian lawyer for arbitrary detention.

Lydienne Yen Eyoum has been detained since 2010 in the Yaounde Kondengui prison.

Not a rule of law

The Rogatory which received no response includes also that of Eric de Putter, a cooperative murdered in 2012 in Yaoundé. Investigation is still stalled three years after the act which is not prudent, according to a source close to the dossier communicating to the services of the Elysée by the Bureau for international criminal assistance (BEPI) of the Chancellery.

"If this is not proof enough to France that Cameroon is not a rule of law...," laments Me Alice Nkom. "It is proof that this country has a problem with the law, the rule is to practice silence," she added.

Contacted by Jeune Afrique in the morning of July 1, the Ministry of Justice of Cameroon, recognized as one of the tightest in the country, did not respond to our enquiries.