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| - Nine members of Cameroon's main opposition party were sentenced to six months in prison for organising banned demonstrations in September against longtime ruler Paul Biya. The members of the Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC) party were detained overnight and charged with "attempted revolt, rebellion, aggravated mobbing", according to the military court's verdict in the capital Yaounde seen by AFP on Wednesday. Police used tear gas and water cannon to break up a protest by hundreds of people on September 22 in the economic capital Douala. The demonstration called for a ceasefire and negotiations to end a long-running conflict between anglophone separatists and security forces that has claimed more than 3,000 lives. The protesters also sought a reform to the electoral system. Opposition leader Maurice Kamto said after the protest that he was "sequestered" at his home, despite a call by UN rights experts for his release. "On October 22, as soon as I tried to go outside, I was immediately surrounded by policemen and gendarmes whose commander ordered me to return to my compound. I have been there for more than a month now," Kamto recently told AFP. A court hearing to rule on a complaint by Kamto requesting his release has been postponed until November 12. Kamto's spokesman, Olivier Bibou Nissack, and MRC treasurer Alain Fogue were among the nine activists sentenced to prison. Kamto lost 2018's presidential election to Biya, who has ruled the Central African country for 38 years. He was arrested in January last year following a march protesting the vote. Biya ordered him freed nine months later under international pressure. In September, Kamto called for protests and warned that if the demands were not heeded, further protests would be organised to demand Biya's resignation. More than 500 people were arrested in demonstrations across the country the same day. rek/dyg/erc/wai
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