Cameroon President Biya denies fraud charges filed in France

Cameroon President Biya denies fraud charges filed in France

2010-11-26 19:30:35 GMT+7 (ICT)

PARIS (BNO NEWS) -- Cameroonian President Paul Biya has said he is not obliged to answer embezzlement charges filed against him in Paris.

Last week, French prosecutors opened an inquiry into the Cameroonian leader. The case was filed by the Union for an Active Diaspora (UDA), a Cameroonian association, on November 2.

UDA accused President Biya of using public funds to buy significant property in France. However, a government spokesman said that the president learned about the accusations through media reports and claimed that Biya does not own property in France.

"The government's reaction is very simple: we declare that the president of the Republic of Cameroon is only answerable to his own people," said Communication Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary.

Biya's government accuses UDA of trying to damage the incumbent president's image ahead of the elections which are scheduled to be held in October 2011. UDA is led by Célestin Djamen, a member of the main opposition party the Social Democratic Front (SDF).

"These are the same accusations people used before the 1992 elections and before the 2004 elections," Tchiroma added.

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