Pambazuka Calls for the Release of Mbaa Ndewa Derogy, Unlawfully Detained in Cameroon

Pambazuka News is incredibly concerned and dismayed to hear of the arrest and detention of Mdaa Ndewa Derogy and his partner, Dr. Amber Ndewa with the charge of  ‘cyberdefamation in collusion with “an activist group” (unspecified) against the Cameroonian Ambassador to France, Andre Magnus Ekoumou, his wife (Claire Ekoumou), and his property manager’ – over a refusal of the former to reimburse the Ndewas’ five months deposit of rent (US $3500)  and the leaking of a video about the property online.  Two separate police investigations have found that no crime has been committed. The couple did not personally or instruct anyone to upload the video. 

Dr. Ndewa has been released on bail, but her husband has been subjected to unlawful pre-trial detention for, at the time of writing, 51 days at Kondengui Central Prison in the capital city of Yaounde at the behest of a Public Prosecutor. The couple’s attorney reported that due process has not been followed and that there have been several irregularities in the case. No arrest warrant was issued, and no arrest report produced. Yet, the couple were taken in front of a Public Prosecutor and charged with committing a crime which was not referred to in the summons, and, based on the timing, they could not have perpetrated. Their arrest appears to be a politically motivated case that has violated multiple Cameroonian laws. 

We call for the immediate release of Mda Ndewa Derogy and the dropping of charges against the couple.  In support of the Ndewas, write to Jean de Lieu Momo, the Minister Delegate of Justice at [email protected] or the Cameroonian Embassy in France, email: [email protected]

The Editors, Pambazuka News