Cameroon: 66 detainees from the post-election crisis sentenced after nearly a year without trial

On October 8, 2026, the Yaoundé military court found 66 people arrested during the crisis that followed the Cameroonian presidential election of October 12, 2025, guilty. These are the first convictions handed down in this case, nearly a year after the arrests, reports Journalducameroun.com.

The charges brought against the defendants include the spread of false news, rebellion, rioting, and failure to possess a national identity card. Sentences range from six-month suspended sentences to prison terms of six to fifteen months, depending on the case. The court did not release individual details.

Sentences shorter than the time already served

The central point of the verdict lies in a calendar calculation. Several of those convicted have already spent more time in a cell than the sentence they have just been given: they should therefore be released in the coming days. Those who received the heaviest sanctions will remain for a few more months. In other words, people now found guilty of minor offenses were deprived of their liberty for almost twelve months before being heard by a judge.

A lawyer from the defense team, quoted by RFI, sees this as "a form of relief for 66 people who were in limbo," while specifying that those involved are not satisfied with the decisions. The defense intends to exhaust all avenues of appeal, according to statements made by Mr. Ndam to the same radio station.

A dispute far from over

Other detainees from the same wave of arrests are still waiting to appear before the military court. Their number has not been disclosed.

The context is that of an election whose results, proclaimed by the Constitutional Council on October 27, 2025, led to demonstrations in several cities across the country. The choice to try civilians before a military court for acts of electoral protest remains one of the most debated points of this case by human rights organizations.

Two questions will remain to be followed: the schedule of the trials still pending, and the fate reserved for the appeals announced by the lawyers. In Cameroon as elsewhere on the continent, the delay between arrest and trial has become one of the most concrete markers of the state of public liberties.