Me Richard Tamfu’s complaint was filed on December 10 by his lawyers with the government commissioner of the Douala Military Court.
It targets four gendarmes and a policewoman, misidentified in the complaint. The latter are accused of “complicity in torture”, “abuse of office”, “obstruction of the practice of the legal profession”, “insults”, “conditional threats” and “minor injuries”.
This complaint is the result of the violent arrest of Me Richard Tamfu a few weeks ago. The video of this arrest had outraged public opinion and forced many political leaders to speak out. In Me Richard Tamfu’s political family, the Cameroonian Party for National Reconciliation (CPNR), it was MP Cabral Libii who spoke first. The president of the CPNR denounced these armed men who “disrupt” the Republic.
The Cameroon Bar Association has not remained sluggish. The president of the bar Mbah Eric Mbah wrote to the Minister Delegate for Defense, Joseph Beti Assomo, to ask him to open an investigation. A few days before, the president had met with Galax Etoga, the Secretary of State for Defense (SED), who is in charge of the gendarmerie. The two men had promised to reactivate the framework for consultation between lawyers and gendarmes to avoid clashes between members of the two bodies. A promise criticized by the public because for many, this agreement would once again bury the investigation ordered by Galax Etoga.
The conclusions of this investigation are available and they incriminate Me Richard Tamfu. The lawyer is accused of “violence against officials”, “rebellion”, “destruction of military effects”, “obstruction of justice” and “insults”. In the National Assembly, Joseph Beti Assomo even defended the right of gendarmes to resort to self-defense in the event of an attack. The conclusions of this investigation did not leave Me Richard Tamfu indifferent. He confided it to Me Daniel Blaise Ngos, one of his lawyers whom he met this week. “He expressed his concern to me regarding the turn of events that made him go from victim to executioner of executioners”, reports Me Daniel Blaise Ngos. The latter continues: “We considered the need to engage with other colleagues at his side to provide our support to all initiatives aimed at restoring his dignity alongside the commission set up by the Cameroon Bar”.
SBBC