Imprisoned Anglophone activist and Muslim scholar, Abdul Karim Ali, has refused to stand trial before any court in Cameroon, arguing that they have no legitimacy to try him, his lawyer has said.
Abdul Karim has been in pre-trial detention at the Kondengui prison in Yaounde since 2022.
He is being charged for terrorism in connection with the crisis in the two English-speaking regions, where militants are fighting to create a separate state.
In a press release dated May 31, 2024, Barrister Joseph Awah Fru, Counsel for Abdul Karim, revealed that his client has written to the government stating he will not be submitting himself for trial before any Cameroonian court.
In the letter to Cameroonian judicial authorities, Mr. Ali states that he was ‘abducted’ on August 11, 2022, as a result of the ongoing Anglophone Crisis.
Considering himself a “Prisoner of Conscience and War” he declares that he is “not a citizen of the Republic of Cameroun.”
He further asserts that as a “Southern Cameroonian or Ambazonian national”, he will not submit to “illegal and illegitimate jurisdiction” of any Cameroonian court or military tribunal.
Barrister Joseph Fru says at the time he was arrested, Ali was advocating for a “just and negotiated settlement of the conflict through a neutral and trusted international mediator.”
But instead of initiating dialogue to end the crisis, Mr. Ali told his lawyer that the government has rather resorted to the arbitrary detention of civilians like himself.
“He demands to be released and returned to Southern Cameroons, and calls for the release of all other Southern Cameroonían prisoners currently held by the Government of Cameroon,” said Barrister Fru.
He has announced a press conference in the coming days to explain Abdul Karim’s position.
