Hollande's Visit: Turning point for Lydienne Yen-Eyoum - Lawyers

The trip of president François Holland to Cameroon is "an important turning point" for the Franco-Cameroonian lawyer Lydienne Yen-Eyoum, detained since 2010 in Yaoundé. The French president will also discuss the situation with his Cameroonian counterpart, said her lawyers on Wednesday in France.

Mr. Hollande, who flew Wednesday night for an African tour in Benin, Angola and Cameroon, will appeal to Paul Biya for this woman, whose sentencing to 25 years in prison was recently confirmed by the supreme Court of Cameroon.

"It is the first time that such a commitment is taken at the highest level of the Executive in this painful matter, and the defense of Lydienne Yen-Eyoum can only accept it," indicated her French lawyers, Caroline Wassermann and Christian Charriere-Bournazel in a statement.

Born in 1959, former Solicitor for the Cameroonian State, Lydienne Yen-Eyoum was arrested January 8, 2010 in an anti-corruption operation and accused of embezzlement of public funds, amounting to 1 billion francs CFA (1.5 million euros).

In 2004, she conducted an operation of recovery of old receivables with the SGBC, a subsidiary of the French Bank Société Générale, in dispute with the Cameroonian State. The Cameroonian justice system accused her of having kept part of the recovered funds, that the counsel has always challenged.

Lawyers had obtained the opening of justice information in Paris on her detention, qualified as "arbitrary" in April, by the Working Group on arbitrary detention at the United Nations High Commission for human rights.

Launched in 2006 under pressure from donors, the anti-corruption "Épervier" operation has already led to the arrest of numerous personalities, including some former Ministers and leaders of public enterprises. Accused persons have often said to be victims of settling of political scores through this operation.

In Cameroon, the visit of Mr. Hollande will focus on security issues while this country plays a key role in the fight against the Islamist group Boko Haram.