Powerful Cameroonian businessman Jean-Pierre Amougu Belinga is accused of “collusion in torture” and is suspected of murdering Martinez Zogo, a journalist who was kidnapped, tortured and murdered on January 22, his lawyer, Charles Tsungang, said.

Amugu Belinga, who is said to have close friendly ties with several ministers and other high-ranking officials, was arrested on 6 February. He was taken “in the middle of the night” to the Yaoundé military court and remanded in custody, the lawyer said. A court-martial source confirmed this information while speaking to AFP.

Authorities have made no official announcement, but an AFP reporter said several other suspects involved in the dark case were court-martialled on Friday night.

A media group owned by Belinga reported that the businessman has been taken to Kodenzi prison.

Journalist Arsene Salomon Bani Zogo or “Martinez”, 50, was abducted by unknown assailants on January 17 while outside a police station on the outskirts of Yaoundé. He was found dead five days later and his body bore wounds that suggested he had been tortured.

Martinez Zogo, from the microphone of the Embouteillage show, often referred to corruption cases and had denounced Amugu Belinga, the owner of many companies (banks, media, insurance, construction, finance, etc.) many times. Among other things, Bellinga owns the newspaper L’Anecdote, the television channels Vision 4 and Télésud and the radio station Satellite FM – all these media are close to the government.