Colonel Otoulou defends his investigation on the stand

Colonel Jean-Pierre Otoulou, the officer who steered the inquiry into the death of Cameroonian broadcaster Martinez Zogo, has completed a lengthy round of questioning, bringing a closely watched hearing to its end.

Taking the stand, the colonel stood by the way he conducted the case, telling the court he had assembled tangible evidence rather than working on assumption.

Bidjang’s contacts with the enquiry under the spotlight

Among the elements he put forward, Otoulou cited the conduct of journalist Bruno Bidjang, at the time an associate of businessman Jean-Pierre Amougou Belinga, one of the principal defendants in the file. According to the colonel, Bidjang went looking for information about investigations that concerned him personally.

Bidjang used his appearance to plead his innocence. For the lawyer representing Martinez Zogo’s heirs, however, the episode exposes something far more troubling: an attempt to interfere with the proceedings.

“It simply confirms what we suspected from the start,” said Maître Calvin Job. “He did try to slip into this joint commission, in an investigation that was supposed to concern him.”

Danwe: planning admitted, responsibility disputed

The exchanges between Otoulou and a fellow officer proved just as significant. Lieutenant-colonel Justin Danwe, who serves with the DGRE intelligence service, acknowledged having organised the surveillance, the abduction and the torture of the Cameroonian presenter, and having put together the operational teams using DGRE personnel.

He nevertheless suggested that he was executing instructions handed down by his superiors rather than acting of his own accord.

Eko Eko’s counsel dismiss the account

That reading of events is rejected outright by the lawyers of Léopold Maxime Eko Eko, who headed the general intelligence directorate when the events unfolded. In their view, nothing in the file backs Danwe’s version.

“He set off on a mission without any mission order and without funding. When he came back, he filed no report to his superiors. The conclusion is straightforward: this was a personal initiative by colonel Danwe,” said Maître Ndjana Ndjana.

Ekang building claim resurfaces

Lieutenant-colonel Danwe also repeated a claim he has maintained throughout: that Martinez Zogo was not tortured inside the Ekang building, a property belonging to Jean-Pierre Amougou Belinga.

By Mariama Hamani — Analyst