Cameroon to release body of late opposition leader

It has been almost three months since Cameroon’s leading opposition figure, Anicet Ekane, died in military detention, some five weeks after being arrested.

Now the authorities are finally allowing the 74-year-old’s family to retrieve his body which has been kept in the Yaoundé Central Hospital mortuary.

The decision follows two requests filed by the family's lawyers and paves the way for his widow to make funeral arrangements.

Ekane’s remains have been under a judicial seal since his death on 1 December last year, following a decision by the government commissioner at the military court.

In the coming days, the family lawyers also hope to obtain the autopsy report which has remained secret until now.

Ekane was among the leaders of an opposition coalition accused of acts of insurrection and rebellion after endorsing Issa Tchiroma Bakary’s victory in October’s presidential election.

Official results of the disputed polls declared 92-year-old incumbent Paul Biya the winner, giving him a new seven-year term in office.

Deadly protests took place in several parts of Cameroon after the vote which Bakary, who has since fled the country, claimed he had won.

Biya came to power in 1982 following the resignation of Cameroon’s first president and has ruled since then.