A Yaoundé judge rejected a request for provisional release submitted by the CEO of the press group Anecdote, detained at the Kondengui Maximum Security Prison in Yaoundé over the Martinez Zogo affair.

Judge Gilbert Schlick ruled that even though the disgraced Francophone business guru was willing to double his proposed security, the risk of interfering with witnesses and destroying evidence remained too high, Judge Schlick said Thursday. “He has access to resources” Schlick said.

The tycoon faces charges of sponsoring and participating in the murder of journalist Martnez Zogo, according to an investigation that was ordered by President Paul Biya.

Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered that Amougou Belinga had destroyed phones and servers, was telling a witness what to say and luring others to Paris to influence them with the help of associates.

Jean Pierre Amougou Belinga is reportedly a diabolical maniac and a cold-blooded and hardened criminal with strong ties to the Biya regime.

He was remanded in custody on Saturday, March 4, 2023 by the Military Court in Yaoundé for “complicity in torture by aiding” in the case of Martinez Zogo, a whistleblower journalist kidnapped on January 17, 2023 before being murdered shortly after.

By Rita Akana in Yaoundé