Barrister Alice Nkom, a human rights advocate, has declined to attend the “final summons”. This was issued by the Senior Divisional Officer of Wouri, Sylyac-Marie Mvogo, set for this Thursday, December 19.
The Board Chair of the Central Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (REDHAC) requested to postpone the meeting to January 10 due to the unavailability of her lawyers to accompany her.
She denounced the government’s attempt to intimidate her, stating that she would not be bullied and would remain steadfast.
The summons relates to an incident on December 9, when she removed an administrative seal from REDHAC’s office in Bali, Douala.
It took very little time for the SDO of Wouri, Syliac-Marie Mvogo, to summon her to appear at his office on December 11.
But the meeting got postponed after Barrister Nkom declined to attend, citing procedural irregularities in the summons and short notice.
A second meeting programmed for December 16 again failed to hold after the SDO postponed it to December 19.
In the letter summoning her, the SDO obliged Barrister Nkom to attend the meeting, accusing her of committing “highly reprehensible acts”.
He warned that “your absence from this final summons will qualify purely and simply as rebellion, carrying all the legal and factual consequences that can be envisaged.”
Many fear she may face arrest or prosecution for breaking the administrative seal and consistently ignoring the SDO’s summons.
Alice Nkom’s REDHAC was among five NGOs that the Ministry of Territorial Administration sanctioned on December 6.
Authorities banned two NGOs, including REDHAC 2, and imposed a three-month suspension on three others, including REDHAC 1.
They reportedly failed to declare billions worth of funding received from external donors.
The government accused the organizations of receiving “illicit and exorbitant funding inconsistent with its operational profile”.
It also suggested that their activities were “likely to undermine the integrity of the national financial system.”
Days after the decision, the local administration sealed offices of the various organisations, including that of REDHAC.
Barrister Alice Nkom joined a conglomerate of civil society organizations in Cameroon to strongly denounce the government action as illegal.
The organisations said the administration violated national laws, including the Constitution and the Penalty Code.
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