Media boss charged with murder of journalist in Cameroon

By Aurore Bonny

DOUALA, Cameroon (AA) - Amougou Belinga was placed under provisional detention Saturday at the central prison in Cameroon’s capital of Yaounde, according to Anecdote -- the media group he leads.

The decision "came after his appearance before the investigating judge at the military court," according to the group’s head of communications Ines Belinga.

He was arrested Feb. 6 and placed in custody with his alleged collaborators for 26 days in the cells of the Secretariat of State for Defense following the murder of Martinez Zogo -- a fellow journalist who fiercely denounced Belinga’s financial misappropriations in complicity with statesmen.

Zogo was found dead with signs of torture Jan. 22, five days after he was abducted in Yaounde.

Belinga's collaborators, including Anecdote’s Media Director Bruno Bidjang, have "all been released," according to Belinga.

Bidjang will be tried as a free suspect.

Maxime EKo EKo, the head of the country’s counter-espionage service, was also detained along with Lieut. Col. Justin Danwe and members of the military who allegedly participated in Zogo’s assassination.

Belinga said lawyers "are taking over" the release of the man whom his colleagues call "the media's Pope" in Cameroon.

The trial will take place in six months, according to media sources who report on security officials.