Barrister Ndiva Kofele
kale and Distinguished Professor of Southern Methodist University (SMU) Dedman
School of Law in the USA, who was lead defense counsel in the trial of
Marafa Hamidou Yaya,former Secretary-General at Presidency of
Cameroon, has insisted that Cameroon is bound to respect the UN ruling that his
client be set free from his 20- year
jail term.
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| Barrister, Prof Kofele kale |
Marafa in April 2012 had been slammed a 25-year jail term for embezzling $29 million dollars , money meant
for the purchase of a presidential jet for Cameroon;but he appealed against the
judgment claiming he was innocent, and the appeals court recently reduced the
sentence to a 20-year jail term.
Marafa had been
sentenced in April 2012 along with three others who also received the same
sentence, including the former head of the now defunct airline Camair, Yves
Michel Fotso
But his lead counsel, kofele kale, who
described Marafa’s trial and imprisonment as a travesty of justice and flagrant
violation of his client’s human rights had vowed to use other international
avenues to correct what he termed the miscarriage of justice.
Convinced that Marafa
was imprisoned without objective evidence or due process of law, Kofele kale
filed a complaint to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), which after a critical review of the matter has
confirmed that Marafa was arbitrarily imprisoned, and is calling for his
immediate release.
Kofele kale,an
American-trained lawyer now in Cameroon,
told this reporter on July 7,in Buea that he was in Yaounde on July 6 and visited his client Marafa in prison
,adding “ we shared a meal to bring the end of Ramadan”
He disclosed that Marafa is having
some health problems but quickly noted that “His (Marafa’s) spirits are high
after receiving such a powerful confirmation of his innocence from an
international tribunal.
“After four years in detention under very
deplorable conditions.. it has taken a toll on his health and he is beginning to have some problems with his eyes”
Asked if the defense counsel
lawyer was confident that Cameroon would respect the recommendation of the
United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) that Marafa be released and compensated, kofele
kale quipped, “Do they have a choice? If Nigeria did not the respect the Judgment
of the ICJ on Bakassi what would have happened? You don’t pick and choose what
you want to respect. If they did not want to respect it they would not have
engaged in the contest.”
Asked how soon he expects his
client to be set free, the American-trained lawyer expressed optimism that his
client Marafa will “be released sooner than later, particularly because of his
health condition”
Reacting to French Lawyer Lydien Eyoum,who has
been amnestied by the Head of State,Kofele kale asked rhetorically, “ Have you
been to Kondengui?
“So every one who is released from
there we should all rejoice. You would recall that she also had a case before
WGAD and they had ruled that her detention was arbitrary .But you know there
are speculations that the French Government put in a lot of pressure on the
government release her”
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