Cameroon: Wife of Cameroon's most famous political prisoner Marafa Hamidou Yaya has died

Jeannette Marafa, wife Cameroon's most famous political prisoner Marafa Hamidou Yaya, died this Friday morning in Paris France. A source close to the family confirmed the information to KOACI.

According to this source, Jeannette Marafa had been suffering from cancer for many years, long before the imprisonment of her husband. "It is for this reason that Mrs. Marafa lived permanently in France. To better follow her treatment, "the source explains.

Marafa Hamidou Yaya, former Secretary-General at the Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon, and former Minister of State for Territorial Administration and Decentralization, equivalent to the Ministry of the Interior, was arrested in April 2012 and sentenced To 25 years' imprisonment in September of that same year, for "intellectual complicity" in the famous "Albatross" affair,, before seeing his sentence reduced to 20 years.

Marafa Hamidou Yaya, who has always proclaimed his innocence, and attributes his misfortunes to his presidential ambitions, is considered by the US State Department, and several human rights organizations, to be a political prisoner.

In 2016, the UN working group on human rights, deemed his arrest as being "arbitrary" and a "violation of international law". The organ of the UN, asked Yaounde, for the immediate release of Marafa followed by substantial compensation. Marafa is serving his sentence at the dreaded (SED),the national headquarters of the gendarmerie in Yaounde.