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Viewing cable 08YAOUNDE949, CAMEROON JAILS SINGER FOR ROLE IN FEBRUARY RIOTS

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08YAOUNDE949 2008-10-02 15:45 2011-08-26 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Yaounde
VZCZCXRO7205
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHYD #0949 2761545
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 021545Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9298
RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE 0217
INFO RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
UNCLAS YAOUNDE 000949 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE ALSO FRO AF/C AND DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL CM
SUBJECT: CAMEROON JAILS SINGER FOR ROLE IN FEBRUARY RIOTS 
 
1.  (U)  On September 24, the Mungo High Court in the Littoral 
Province 
sentenced prominent singer and political activist "Lapiro de Mbanga" 
to three 
years in prison, claiming Lapiro had instigated rioting in the 
Littoral 
Province town of Mbanga during the February unrest that engulfed 31 
cities in 
Cameroon.  Lapiro, whose real name is Pierre Roger Lambo Sandjo, was 
also 
ordered to pay 280 million CFA (about $560,000) in damages payable 
to a 
French-owned banana plantation and the local tax office.  While not 
commenting 
specifically on the Lapiro case, Embassy contacts working in the 
banana sector 
told us that local political jockeying in the Mbanga area was 
particularly 
heated during the time of the riots. 
 
2.  (U)  The government prosecutor had requested 20 years in prison 
and 
damages of 1.1 billion CFA ($2.2 million).  Local administration 
officials and 
political figures (including rival traditional leaders) provided 
testimony for 
the state.  Lapiro's lawyers have appealed the ruling, arguing that 
the 
testimonies were politically motivated and self-contradictory. 
Lapiro's 
appeal will be heard in the Littoral Court of Appeals in Douala, 
Cameroon's 
largest city and the locus of the February riots. 
 
3.  (U)  A nationally-recognized folk singer who penned a popular 
song 
expressing opposition to Biya's removal of presidential term limits, 
Lapiro is 
associated with the leading opposition party, the Social Democratic 
Front 
(SDF).  Many observers were shocked by the heavy sentence meted out 
to Lapiro, 
and most media reports highlighted the political and French business 
angles to 
the case. 
 
4.  (SBU)  Comment:  Despite clear political-economical overtones, 
the 
February unrest was marked by rampant criminal activity, including 
looting and 
rioting, that cost the country more than 32 billion CFA ($64 
million) 
according to the Ministry of Finance.  Lapiro's conviction resonates 
more as 
scape-goating and political score-settling than genuine justice, 
especially 
since President Biya pardoned almost all of those arrested during 
the riots. 
It is not clear that Lapiro's case will catalyze any public 
reaction, but it 
will undoubtedly exacerbate the population's already simmering 
political 
frustrations.