The verdict is. Accused of embezzlement, the Franco-Cameroonian lawyer Lydian Yen-Eyoum was sentenced Friday, Sept. 26, in Yaounde, Cameroon, 25 years imprisonment by the Special Criminal Court (TCS) Anti-Corruption.
After nearly five years of detention at Kondengui Central Prison in Yaoundé, the lawyer was convicted of embezzling 1,077 billion CFA francs (1.5 million euros). After having given the mitigating circumstances, the judges were also ordered to pay jointly with two others fined 1,153 billion CFA francs. His lawyer, Yondo Black, said he would lodge an appeal, explaining that "Mr. Yen-Eyoum committed no offense."
His co-defendant, former Finance Minister Polycarpe Abah Abah, has however been declared not guilty, but still continued in several other cases. A bailiff was also acquitted in the case.
Detention conditions "terrifying"
In March, the Committee of French support lawyer, chaired by Thierry Michel Atangana who himself was jailed for 17 years in Cameroon, had denounced prison conditions: "It is really guilty of anything, even if she was guilty of embezzlement that would not justify its treatment, there is a monstrous disproportion there. "
"The conditions of detention of Lydian Yen-Eyoum are terrifying," the committee said she shares a cell of 12 m² with fourteen other inmates. Another of his co-defendants, former Deputy Finance Minister for Budget, Henri Engoulou, died in custody May 8, 2014.
Lydian Yen-Eyoum was arrested Jan. 8, 2010 as part of an investigation into a corruption case. She and many other personalities, including former ministers and directors of public companies, have borne the brunt of a vast operation, named "Hawk", launched in 2006 under pressure from donors to end the diversion. In 2012, President Paul Biya has set up a special anti-corruption Criminal Tribunal for trial. But the accused often claimed to be victims of settling political scores.
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