Cameroon orders release of main opposition leader Maurice Kamto
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A Cameroonian military court Saturday ordered the release of main opposition leader Maurice Kamto, who has been imprisoned for nine months, after a series of conciliatory gestures by veteran ruler Paul Biya.
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The court said Kamto and 101 others summoned could be released "if they have not been detained for anything else".
Kamto's lawyer Sylvain Souop added: "We note the release of our clients who should not have been in prison. Maurice Kamto is free.
Biya — who has ruled Cameroon with an iron fist for nearly 37 years — on Friday announced he had ordered prosecutions to be dropped against "some" opposition leaders, including a number from the main Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC) led by his jailed rival Kamto.
Kamto went on trial with 88 others in a military court in September on charges of insurrection, hostility to the motherland and rebellion — crimes which could carry the death penalty.
Biya's shock announcement came on the closing day of crunch talks aimed at easing a bloody crisis in Cameroon's anglophone regions, which were shunned by the mainRead More – Source
