Investigator defends his work in court
Colonel Jean-Pierre Otoulou took the stand to justify the investigation he led. He stated that he had gathered evidence, particularly regarding journalist Bruno Bidjang, who at the time was working with businessman Jean-Pierre Amougou Belinga, one of the main defendants in the case. According to Otoulou, Bidjang sought information about inquiries that concerned him.
Although Bidjang attempted to prove his innocence, the lawyer for Martinez Zogo’s beneficiaries sees this as interference in the proceedings. “It simply reveals what we suspected from the start. He effectively tried to infiltrate this joint commission into an investigation that was supposed to concern him,” said Maître Calvin Job.
Lieutenant-colonel says he acted on orders
In his exchanges with Colonel Otoulou, Lieutenant-Colonel Justin Danwe of the DGRE admitted to planning the surveillance, abduction, and torture of Cameroonian presenter Martinez Zogo. He is also said to have assembled the operational teams using DGRE personnel. However, he suggested that he had received orders from his superiors.
For the lawyers of Léopold Maxime Eko Eko, who was director general of general intelligence at the time of the events, no evidence supports Danwe’s version. “He went on a mission without receiving a mission order or funding. When he returned, he made no report to his superiors. Simple conclusion: it was a personal initiative by Colonel Danwe,” said Maître Ndjana Ndjana.
Lieutenant-Colonel Justin Danwe also reaffirmed that Martinez Zogo’s torture did not take place in the Ekang building, which is owned by Jean-Pierre Amougou Belinga.
