Cameroon Office of Michel Togué searched

In the night of 16 on 17 June, the office of Michel Togué in Yaoundé was broken into and searched by several unidentified persons. His passport, laptop and a data carrier with confidential information, among other things, were stolen. He filed a complaint with the police.

Michel Togué, who recently spoke to L4L in the Netherlands, defends persons wo are prosecuted by the Cameroon authorities for ‘homosexual behavior’. Gay hate is deeply rooted in the West-African country as a consequence of traditional culture and superstition. Of the more than two thousand lawyers in Cameroon, Michel Togué and his colleague Alice Nkom are the only two who are prepared to represent people who are suspected of having a same sex relationship.

The theft from the office follows on the many death threats directed at Michel Togué, because of which he saw himself forced to apply for political asylum for his wife and children in the United States. What these threats can lead to became very clear recently when the body of well-known LGBT-rights defender Eric Ohena Lembembe was found on 15 July in his house in Yaoundé, where he was tortured and killed.

L4L is concerned about the safety of Michel Togué and called upon the authorities to do anything in its power to guarantee his safety.