To date, the court has failed to provide an adequate rationale for his ongoing detention or to hold a substantive hearing on the charges against him, in contravention of Mr. Chouta's right to freedom from arbitrary detention and right to trial without undue delay.
Mr. Chouta's detention also violates his right to freedom of expression.
Mr. Chouta's ongoing detention therefore impermissibly restricts his right to freedom of expression.
Mr. Chouta's treatment is precisely the sort of disproportionate response that the HRC and African Court have consistently found in violation of the individual right to freedom of expression while undermining and chilling the right in society at large.
He was informed that Ms. Beyala's lawyer had applied for joinder of Mr. Chouta's case with a second case filed against another individual alleged to have made false claims about Ms. Beyala.
