Cameroon Orders Release of 333 People Jailed Over Crisis

(Bloomberg) -- Cameroonian President Paul Biya ordered the release of 333 prisoners charged with offenses committed during the country’s anglophone crisis.

Biya’s order on Thursday came as talks over a conflict in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions are underway in the capital, Yaounde.

The crisis in the Southwest and Northwest regions has killed an estimated 2,000 people and left many Cameroonians from the Anglophone community calling for federalism or complete secession from the French-speaking majority. Both topics were considered taboo until protests against the dominance of the French language in schools and courts were so brutally quashed by security forces in 2016 that they turned into a full-blown revolt.

Biya’s decision to allow the prisoners to return home shows the president’s determination to find a solution, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, secretary general in the office of the presidency, said Thursday in a statement on state radio.

--With assistance from Katarina Hoije.

To contact the reporter on this story: Pius Lukong in Yaounde at plukong@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andre Janse van Vuuren at ajansevanvuu@bloomberg.net, Yinka Ibukun

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