Enoh Meyomesse campaigns against military justice

Enoh Meyomesse has campaigned for the abolition of military justice in an article published November 12, 2014 in ‘Le Jour’ after the recent indictment of three Cameroonian journalists by the military court in Yaoundé .

The writer and politician was detained in Yaoundé’s Central Prison after a trial in military court, after challenging the usefulness of this justice.

Enoh Meyomesse who was sentenced in 2012 to seven years imprisonment for aiding and abetting armed robbery and illegal sale of gold stated that, “The military should remember that Cameroon is currently one of the last countries in the world to use military tribunals to try citizens. What a shameful act and this gives no honour to our country”.

To support his argument, he cited examples from the huge democracies of Europe, France, England, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Switzerland who had abolished the military justice “long ago”.

According to him, he wondered why the military in Cameroon tried civilians as in the aforementioned countries used to; it is the civil courts that should do that. He believes that military justice is used in Cameroon as a political justice.

He noted that it has been used for all political trials since the country's independence. And, citing seven trials to which he added his own, he argued that, “We found ourselves right in the Ahidjo regime that had turned the Cameroonian citizens zealous informers." Enoh Meyomesse also questioned the establishment and prioritization of military courts in Cameroon.

Meyomesse criticized the incompetence of the judges and judicial as well as military persons followed by a few questions.

"Why is it that, there is neither military Supreme Court nor the Supreme Council of the military judiciary? It makes no sense! Similarly, why not military lawyers and military judges and bailiffs? Anachronism”, said Enoh Meyomesse.

It is therefore a mystery why ministers without training act as magistrate such as Jean -Baptiste Mabaya, Sadio Daoudou, Gilbert Andze Tsoungui, Michel Meva'a m'Eboutou and Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo'o convicted the persons found by the Military Court.