Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Social Pulse
Business Video
The Freeland File
Aerospace & Defense
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
India Insight
World Video
Reuters Investigates
Decoder
Politics
Politics Home
Election 2012
Campaign Polling
Supreme Court
Politics Video
Tech
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Tech Tonic
Social Pulse
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
John Lloyd
Felix Salmon
Jack Shafer
David Rohde
Nader Mousavizadeh
Lucy P. Marcus
David Cay Johnston
Bethany McLean
Anatole Kaletsky
Reihan Salam
Edward Hadas
Hugo Dixon
Ian Bremmer
Lawrence Summers
Susan Glasser
The Great Debate
Steven Brill
Jack & Suzy Welch
Frederick Kempe
Christopher Papagianis
Mark Leonard
Breakingviews
Equities
Credit
Private Equity
M&A
Macro & Markets
Politics
Breakingviews Video
Money
Money Home
Tax Break
Lipper Awards 2012
Global Investing
MuniLand
Unstructured Finance
Linda Stern
Mark Miller
John Wasik
James Saft
Analyst Research
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Money Clip
Investing 201
Life
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Reuters TV
Reuters News
Article
Comments (0)
Full Focus
Photos of the week
Our best photos from the past week. Full Article
Images of August
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Libyan Islamist militia swept out of Benghazi bases
11:16am EDT
Apple seeks U.S. Samsung sales ban, $707 million more in damages
6:53am EDT
Russia's Medvedev offers rare criticism of Putin
21 Sep 2012
Iran's Revolutionary Guard says expects Israel to launch war
6:56am EDT
Space shuttle Endeavour home in Los Angeles after final flight
21 Sep 2012
Discussed
274
New video shows Romney saying Palestinians don’t want peace
121
Romney derides Obama supporters in hidden camera speech
88
Romney paid $1.9 million in taxes in 2011: campaign
Sponsored Links
Pictures
Reuters Photojournalism
Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption
iPhone 5 frenzy
People around the world queue in lines for the release of Apple's anticipated iPhone 5. Slideshow
Communist village
Jinggangshan is home to China's Executive Leadership Academy. Slideshow
Cameroon sentence ex-minister to 25-year jail term
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Analysis & Opinion
Get me to the court on time
Related Topics
World »
YAOUNDE |
Sat Sep 22, 2012 10:54am EDT
YAOUNDE (Reuters) - A court in Cameroon on Saturday sentenced former presidential hopeful and senior minister Marafa Hamidou Yaya to a 25-year jail term on embezzlement charges related to the botched purchase of a presidential plane in 2004.
The court handed down the sentence early on Saturday morning after a marathon overnight trial. The court handed the same sentence to Yves Michel Fotso, former director of defunct state air transport company CAMAIR.
Hamidou Yaha was minister of territorial administration until he was sacked in December in a cabinet reshuffle by President Paul Biya. He was widely believed to harbor ambitions to succeed the 79-year-old Biya.
Biya, who has been in power since 1982, launched "Operation Sparrow Hawk" in 2006 to combat corruption in the central African nation. The drive has seen several of his former aides brought to court but critics say the anti-corruption campaign has been used to target opponents.
The court in the capital Yaounde found the two guilty of embezzling 24 billion CFA francs ($47.52 million) that was meant for the purchase of the presidential plane called "Albatross".
In letters published after he was arrested in April, Hamidou Yaha denied he participated in any attempt to embezzle public funds and said he was a victim of a political plot.
"Investigations show that the 24 billion CFA francs ... for the purchase of the aircraft were diverted by Yves Michel Fotso for personal interests," the presiding judge said in sentencing.
Fotso was at the time director general of the CBC bank in which funds for the purchase of the plane were deposited.
"The investigations also show that his friend and then secretary-general at the presidency Hamidou Marafa Yaya was well aware of the money being used for personal interest but failed to use his position as a senior administrative officer to prevent the diversion of the money," the judge said.
"The court therefore is very certain that he too (Hamidou Yaya) was involved in the entire process," he said.
Speaking reporters before he was whisked off by security forces, Hamidou Yaya said he was not surprised by the verdict.
"I am very disappointed with the judgment but not surprised because this all has been politicized. But I will file an appeal against my conviction because I am not guilty," he said.
The case has already landed another former minister, Jean-Marie Atangana Mebara and former ambassador to the United States, Jerome Mendouga in jail.
($1 = 505.0100 CFA francs)
(Reporting by Tansa Musa; Writing by Bate Felix; Editing by Rosalind Russell)
World
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Support
Corrections
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Podcast
Newsletters
Mobile
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
AdChoices
Copyright
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.