Yes, I Removed The Seals. But Far From Being A Rebellion, It Was An Act In Favour Of Justice”, Board Chair of REDHAC, Barrister Alice NKOM

  Barrister Alice Nkom, who, was Interrogated at SED In Yaounde On January 20, was again interrogated by the Judicial Police In Douala on January 22.

 The doyen of Cameroonian lawyers, Barrister Alice Nkom, accuses administration of ABUSE OF POWER AND DISDAIN FOR LEGALITY   

Barrister Emmanuel SIMH (Vice President of MRC) was interrogated at SED on January 27 for over five hours

As The Mentor News reported early last week, 80 year old Barrister Alice Nkom, the Board Chair of the Central Africa Human Rights Defenders Network commonly known by the French acronym, REDHAC, was on Monday, January 20, 2025, interrogated at the Central Service of Judicial Research of the National Gendarmerie at the Secretariat of State for Defence commonly known by the French acronym, SED. Her summoned to SED followed a report that was filed against her by a certain civil society organization known as “L’Observatoire de Devoloppement Societal’, ODS, of one Lilian Koulou (male), said to be operating for some members of the regime.  ODS accused doyen of Cameroonian lawyers, Barrister Alice Nkom, of threat to State security, sponsoring terrorism, and rebellion. The Mentor reported extensively on this controversial issue.

Meanwhile back in Douala, Barrister Alice Nkom was at the Judicial Police on January 22, 2025, where she was summoned for a matter concerning. In a social media post addressed to those she referred to as her dear children, her dear friends and companions of resistance, the Board Chair of REDHAC, Barrister Alice Nkom, disclosed that at the Judicial Police, she was informed that her summoned was linked to a complaint filed against her by the SDO of Wouri, Mvogo Sylyac Marie. The SDO accused her of the destruction of administrative seals, and for rebellion. The seals in question were the those that were put on the door of REDHAC on December 10, 2024 by the DO of Douala 1, following an order by the Minister of Territorial Administration, that had on December 6 suspended 5 civil society organizations, among which REDHAC was the most prominent. It should be noted that Madam Nkom destroyed the seals twice. According to the Board Chair of REDHAC, the accusation of rebellion leveled against her by the Wouri SDO, was on the claim that she allegedly refused twice to respect administrative summons that she should report to his office.

Abuse Of Power, Disrespect Of Legality

Meanwhile for the first time since the conflict between the administration and Barrister Alice Nkom sparked off on December 10, 2024, the doyen of Cameroonian lawyers for the first time gave some details of her own side of the story. Barrister Alice Nkom in her social media post in French (which The Mentor did an approximate translation),  told those she termed her children, friends and companions of resistance, that : “I will today share with you the truth, This affair is not only an attack against me. It is an illustration of what we have to fight against together – the abuse of power and disdain for legality”.

Barrister Nkom went on to say that: “Yes, I removed the seals. And I say that without mincing words. But far from being a rebellion, it was an act in favour of justice. These seals, my friends, had no legal base. They seals were not put within the right judicial procedure. And Why? Because in a State of Law, only the court – and agents or experts put on oath – have the power to put seals. In my case, they came and put seals, and said their action was in line with a ministerial order. But even in that ministerial order, the sealing of offices was not mentioned.

“The role of the SDO’s Office, my dear companions is limited by law. The SDO’s Office sees that associations operate in conformity with the law, nothing more. Even when an association is suspended, only the decision of the court can justify an action like the putting of a seal. But in this particular case, there was no court decision, no legitimate procedure. It was all an abuse of authority. When I cut the seals, I did not do so as an act of defiance. I did it because the law must be respected by all, including those in power. So what I did was not a rebellion. It was a call to justice”.

Barrister Alice Nkom remarked to her friends and companions in resistance, that this is a difficult moment in the country. But she said what is happening to her is also a revelator. That it shows that the road they have to cover to construct a Cameroon where justice is not instead misused like an instrument to create fear, but rather as an instrument to guarantee equity and peace, is still far. “0This is why I have talked to you today. Not to demand for pity.  Not to give in to anger. But to call on you to keep standing, for the struggle or the fight is bigger than me. It is for all of us, each child, each parent, each citizen who think that one day, Cameroon can become a country where nobody is above the Law”.

  Barrister Emmanuel Simh Interrogated At SED

Meanwhile Yaounde based Barister Emmanuel SIMH, who is also one of the Vice Presidents of MRC, was on Monday, January 27, 2025, interrogated for over five hours at the Central Service of Judicial Research of the National Gendarmerie, at the Secretariat of State for Defence commonly known by the French acronym, SED.

As The Mentor News reported earlier, Barrister Alice Nkom was summoned to SED based on a complaint that was filed by a so called civil society group, ODS, which accused her of threat to State security, and for sponsoring terrorism.  ODS claimed that Madam Nkom attended a meeting that was organized by a group of Cameroonian Diaspora that held in Germany, to allegedly raise funds to sponsor terrorism in Cameroon,  But as  The Mentor also reporter, Barrister Emmanuel Simh and the no –nonsense civil society leader,  Edith Kah Walla, both wrote to the President of the Yaounde Military Court, informing him that they also attended the meeting in Germany, and insisted that it had nothing to do with raising funds to sponsor terrorism or whatever criminal act.

Barrister Simh and Kah Walla made bold to tell the President  of the  Yaounde Military Tribunal, that if Barrister Alice Nkom has to be arrested because she attended the meeting in  Germany, then they too should be arrested because they also attended the meeting. It was based on that correspondence that Barrister Emmanuel Simh was summoned to SED on January 27, to be interrogated especially on the meeting that held in Germany.

“I Feel Relief”

In a post on social media after returning from SED, Barrister Emmanuel Simh said he was interrogated for over five hours, and that he had returned to his Law Firm, to wait for whatever would happen next in the procedure. He said he felt relief for having had the opportunity to explain that the accusations of threat to national security, funding of terrorism and funding of armed gangs, were spurious.

Barrister Simh expressed profound gratitude to a number of colleagues who accompanied him to SED, among whom was the President of the Cameroon Bar Council, Batonnier Mbah Eric Mbah,  Barrister Claude Assira, Barrister Dorcas Nkongme, Barrister Aime Yobo, Barrister Sother Menkm as well as Barristers Michele Ndoki and Calvin Job who came in from Douala, and Barrister Marlyse Sime who flew in from Boston, United States.