YAOUNDE, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Cameroon's Supreme Court on Thursday announced the decision to order a retrial for 10 separatist leaders who were sentenced to life imprisonment by a military court.
Julius Ayuk Tabe, leader of a separatist movement, and nine of his executives were convicted of charges including "terrorism and secession" in 2019 by a military court and handed down life sentences. An appeals court upheld the judgment a year later.
Thursday's judgment by Supreme Court President Marie Louise Abomo ordered a "proper retrial" by the appeals court, according to Akere Muna, one of the lead counsel for the appellants.
Ayuk Tabe was the first self-proclaimed president of "Ambazonia," a so-called breakaway state declared in 2017 in Cameroon's two English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest.
He was arrested alongside nine others in Nigeria in 2018 and deported to Cameroon to face trial.
Local politicians said the Supreme Court's ruling on Thursday could usher in a fresh start for reconciliation and peace in the Anglophone regions, where an armed separatist conflict is still in progress. ■