The CRM activist Alexis Kessouo Mbevo has been released after more than two years of detention in the Kondengui Central prison, Yaounde.

The Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon CRM activist was found not guilty on appeal on 16 March for revolution, rebellion, assembly and public demonstration. Last year, he was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment in the first instance, at the Military Court.

The release of Alexis Kessouo Mbevo for unproven facts has a symbolic value for the MRC. The party has been working for several months to obtain the release of 62 of its activists arrested after the banned marches of 2020 and sentenced in first instance by the military court. The case of Alexis Kessouo Mbevo is the first victory of the collective Sylvain Souop, which includes lawyers who defend the cause of these activists convicted by the court.

“The Sylvain Souop Collective welcomes this decision and intends to use it before all judicial and non-judicial bodies to continue the quest for the release of the 61 others still deprived of their freedom,” said Hippolyte Meli, who coordinates the activities of this collective.

This collective rubbed its hands last year when the appeal trial began in a civil court. The lawyers of the collective, like the main leaders of the CRM, had always challenged the military court, arguing that civilians could not be judged by military magistrates. On appeal, the lawyer Maurice Kamto, the president of the MRC, had even joined the collective.