Jeweler Accused Of Terrorist Activities

Ibrahim Abdoul Karim, who plied his trade in Maroua, is thought to be Chadian.

The trials of alleged Boko Haram members and accomplices continued at the Yaounde Military Tribunal on October 24, 2016. Amongst them was Ibrahim Abdoul Karim, a jeweler based in Maroua in the Far North Region. He faces a one-count charge of terrorism, punishable under Article 74 of the Penal Code and Article 2 of Law No. 2014/028 of 23/12/2014. The matter was filed with the tribunal on January 4, 2016.

Hearing the matter was Col. Abega Mbezoa, assisted by Lt. Col. Mboa Guy Archange and Major Ndem Victor, while Major Nzie Pierrot Narcisse and Captain Nkoa Akouna did the prosecution. Under examination by his counsel, Barrister Emmanuel Simh, Ibrahim Abdoul Karim, speaking through an Arabic interpreter, recalled how he was arrested in his jeweler’s shop in Maroua in 2015. He was detained for 10 days before being transferred to Yaounde where he spent 10 months in custody before being moved to the Kondengui Main Prison.

Under intense questioning by Captain Akouna, Karim kept repeating that he was Cameroonian, not Chadian. When confronted with a statement he signed during gendarmerie interrogation saying he was Chadian, he said though he was born in Ndjamena, Chad, he was Cameroonian. Barrister Simh disagreed with Captain Akouna’s line of questioning, noting that Ibrahim Abdoul Karim is charged with terrorism, not nationality fraud.<...