yaoundé nine finally released from prison

By Jean-Luc (BtM Reporter)

June 13, 2006: The Yaoundé nine, of the initial eleven arrests, were yesterday acquitted in the capital city of Cameroon.

These gays testified in court and seven of them were convicted for a ten-month jail term, while the other two were not found guilty. But for the reason that they already spent twelve months incarcerated, they were all released based on this fact.

According to correspondence in Yaoundé – the capital of Cameroon, some of the Yaoundé nine were being victimized and tortured there in prison. According to Alice Nkom – the Yaoundé nine’s advocate, one of them didn’t appear in court yesterday because he was bedridden.

Initially they were eleven arrested and accused of being all-men in a bar. The authorities linked that to homosexuality, which is highly condemned in Cameroon.