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Court
Poised to Watch Video Evidence On Homosexuality
27 Feb 2006- The Yaounde Magistrate Court may watch a
videocassette on the heinous act of homosexuality when the case in which
two journalists were charged for defamation gathers momentum.
The two publishers of Yaounde based
tabloids; Amougou Belinga and Biloa Ayissi installed video equipment in
court last February 21 ready to prove that the Minister Delegate at the
Presidency in charge of Relations with the National Assembly, Mr.
Gregoire Owona and two other plaintiffs actually practice homosexuality
as they claimed in their publications.
Excitement seized the huge crowd of
onlookers that stormed the court when they saw the video equipment. Many
were curious to see what the videotape would unleash, but the court
slipped away from the substantive matter when the defence counsels
raised preliminary objections on matters of procedure.
According to the defence lawyers
led by Barristers Joseph Bayiha and Paul Ndoumou, the defendants,
Amougou Belinga and Biloa Ayissi had earlier dragged Mr. Gregoire Owona
to court for practicing homosexuality, which is an offence contrary to
section 347 of the Cameroonian penal code.
They prayed the court to try Mr .Gregoire
Owona before hearing the case of defamation against them. But the
lawyers for the plaintiff led by Barrister Guy Noah argued that Mr.
Gregoire Owona was the first person to file his case against the
defendants. The State Counsel, justice Awana Elele corroborated the
argument.
After listening to both sides,
Justice Alexandre Anaba Mbo rejected the demand of the defence and ruled
that the court would continue with substantive matter the next day. But
the next day on February 22, the defence emerged with an entirely new
argument on procedure.
According to Barrister Paul Ndoumou,
the plaintiffs did state their charges well and therefore failed to say
how the newspaper articles defamed them within the ambit of the 1990
laws on mass communication. The lawyers argued that the plaintiffs
summoned the defendants on a two-count charge, defamation and abuse but
did not state clearly what in the publications amounted to the charges.
The judge adjourned the matter to
February 28 after listening to both parties. The case is part of the
homosexuality saga currently rocking the country. On January 23, two
French language tabloids, Anecdote and Nouvelle Afrique published a list
of some prominent personalities allegedly practicing homosexuality. Mr.
Gregoire Owona whose name appeared on the list was the first person to
shoot the litigation salvo against the two newspapers.
The case promises to be quite stormy as the defendants
claim to have iron-cast evidence to prove their claims. For two days the
court session held under a very tense atmosphere as curious onlookers,
including anti-gay demonstrators stormed the court premises heaping all
kinds of abuses on homosexuals
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