Protest In Geneva: Labour Minister Says Paul Biya’s Human Rights Be Respected
President Paul Biya’s short private stay in Switzerland this July might be a photocopy of the 2019 dismal visit following violent protests by the Diaspora-based Brigade Anti Sardinards, BAS. Two years after, President Biya is back in Geneva, but BAS has promised to hit Geneva streets on Saturday, July 17, 2021. But before this showdown on Saturday, a group of Ambazonia Activists stormed the Geneva Intercontinental hotel where it is believed Paul Biya and wife Chantal are lodging, calling on the hotel management to evict the Octogenarian.
Policemen stationed at the hotel kept cautioning that the Intercontinental hotel is a private area. But the Activists pushed through to demand Biya’s eviction.
The Minister of Labour and Social Security, Gregoire Owona thinks that the release from the Presidency about Paul Biya’s stay in Europe specified that it was private.
“Violence in all its forms is prohibited. Our Head of State has the right to his private life; he is free to come and go anywhere in the world. Human rights concern us all. Violence has no place anywhere, least of all in the political debate.”
Geneva Police Announce Traffic Obstruction Due to BAS Planned Protest
On Wednesday, July 14, 2021, Police in the canton of Geneva cautioned city dwellers that there would be a deviation in many parts of the area where the Activists are expected to protest this Saturday.
“In the afternoon of Saturday, July 17, 2021, on the Place des Nations will take place a demonstration against the presence in Switzerland of the president of Cameroon.” A statement on the social media page of the Geneva Police law enforcement department read.
In October 2020, Councilors in Geneva voted against a motion to declare President Paul Biya person non grata. This came one year after the June 29, 2019, violent protests by Diaspora opposition at Place des Nations. They were pushed back with tear gas and water cannons as they demanded President Biya to leave the luxurious hotel and go back to Cameroon where the nation’s problems were waiting for him.
