Amougou Belinga’s lawyers demand another autopsy on Martinez Zogo
The collective of lawyers of Jean Pierre Amougou Belinga, led by Charles Tchoungang, has stated that the prospect of the burial of the victim, Martinez Zogo, seems to go against the search for the truth.
This is contained in a letter addressed to the investigating judge at the Yaounde military court on March 24th.
The Lawyers are demanding a copy of the preliminary investigations of the case so they can adequately defend their client.
“We request the issuance of a copy of the file of the preliminary investigation in the case taken up in the margin, in accordance with Article 165 paragraph 5 (b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. It turns out that to date and despite having paid the costs requested by the Chief Clerk of your court, we have not received a copy of the preliminary investigation file, which is essential for the preparation of our client’s defense as part of the investigation you are conducting and the possible trial envisaged,” they note.
According to the Lawyers, several media outlets reported that Martinez Zogo was tortured at the Ekang building owned by their client, and the idea of burying him will not enable them “search for the truth”.
They wish for the judge to take good and concrete actions to verify facts before Martinez Zogo is laid to rest.
“… we very respectfully ask that you please take acts that would contribute to the verification of these facts, to present the evidence that the burial of the victim could obscure”.
According to the lawyers, a new autopsy should make it possible to check the type of torture inflicted on Martinez Zogo.
It should be recalled that on the day of the discovery of Martinez Zogo’s remains, January 22, 2023, several sources reported the results of the autopsy carried out which stated that “Martinez Zogo has a broken foot, fingers cut, received electric shocks, he was made to eat his feces, tongue cut out, etc”.
Jean Pierre Amougou Belinga since March 4th has been placed in pre-trial detention at the kondengui central prison for “complicity in torture by aid” in the assassination of Journalist Martinez Zogo.
