Cameroon Media mogul Amougou Belinga goes on trial for the murder of a journalist he wanted silenced

Jean-Pierre Amougou Belinga, one of Cameroon's wealthiest men and the owner of Vision 4 television, is on trial before the Tribunal Militaire de Yaounde accused of ordering the kidnapping, torture and murder of radio journalist Martinez Zogo, who was known for broadcasting the names of corrupt officials and powerful businessmen on his popular investigative programme before he disappeared in January 2023 and was found dead five days later, his body bearing marks of severe torture. A hearing on June 2 produced its most explosive development yet: the disclosure that 26 phone calls between Amougou Belinga and the head of operations of Cameroon's external intelligence agency were deleted from both phones during the precise days Zogo was abducted and killed, and that only 18 percent of the billionaire's phone data has so far been analysed.

Martinez Zogo hosted Embouteillages, a programme on Amplitude FM in Yaounde that named corrupt officials and powerful individuals with a directness that was unusual in Cameroonian media. He was reported missing on January 17, 2023. His mutilated body was discovered on January 22, on the outskirts of Yaounde. The killing sent shockwaves across the continent and prompted an international outcry over press freedom in Cameroon.

Amougou Belinga was arrested weeks later and has remained in custody throughout the proceedings. Lieutenant-Colonel Justin Danwé, head of operations at the DGRE, Cameroon's external intelligence directorate, is also among the accused and is charged with being the operational executor of the abduction. Several other DGRE agents face charges in connection with the same events.

The June 2 hearing crystallised the evidentiary battle that has come to define the trial. Civil party attorney Maître Félicité Esther Zeifman confronted the forensic expert commissioned by the tribunal with a pointed question: had his reference to the 18 percent of Amougou Belinga's phone data analysed led him to declare the accused guilty or innocent of anything?

Her objective was transparent. In the days before the hearing, voices outside the courtroom had been circulating an interpretation, clearly originating from the defence, that the forensic expert's technical limitations amounted to a digital absolution. The implication being pushed was that because only a fraction of the phone had been read, and that fraction contained nothing conclusively incriminating, the technology had effectively cleared the powerful media mogul.

The expert dismantled that interpretation in a single response. Speaking strictly in his technical capacity, he said the 18 percent extracted represented a fraction of the total available data, reflecting neither the totality of the accused's behaviour nor the full content of his communications. Other phones, other digital environments, remained beyond the reach of his current conclusions. What the science had found did not exonerate anyone. What it had not yet read remained an open question.

The most consequential disclosure of the session centred on 26 deleted calls. Official telephone records confirm that between January 18 and January 28, 2023, Amougou Belinga and Lieutenant-Colonel Danwé exchanged 26 audio calls. Both men deleted the calls from their respective devices. The timeline is not incidental. It corresponds precisely to the period covering Zogo's abduction and the discovery of his body. The deleted calls represent the most significant piece of material evidence linking the alleged mastermind to the alleged executor of the operation.

Defence lawyers had previously leaned on the incomplete phone extraction as evidence that the technical record contained nothing directly implicating their client. Civil party lawyers Maîtres Kenmoe and Ashu responded on June 2 by formally requesting that the court order a supplementary forensic examination specifically targeting the deleted data on Amougou Belinga's phone. Modern forensic technology, they argued, has tools capable of reconstructing data that has been deliberately wiped. The defence is aware of that capability, which is precisely why the request carries such weight. If the court grants it and the deleted calls are recovered, even partially, the evidentiary foundation of the trial could shift decisively.

The session also included, for the second time in the proceedings, the projection of footage showing Zogo in his final moments. The images, described by those present as deeply disturbing, served as a reminder that behind the forensic percentages, the legal arguments and the deleted call logs, there is a journalist who was taken, tortured and killed in circumstances of extreme violence, apparently for the act of broadcasting the truth about powerful people.

Amougou Belinga controls one of the most influential television networks in Cameroon through Vision 4, and has commercial interests spanning media, real estate and other sectors. His wealth and political connections have made the trial one of the most closely watched in Cameroonian legal history. Reporters Without Borders has cited the case as a defining test of press freedom accountability in Central Africa.

The June 2 hearing left the proceedings in a state of charged suspension. A ruling on whether the supplementary forensic examination will be ordered is expected at the next session. The 82 percent of Amougou Belinga's phone that remains unread sits at the centre of what comes next.