Cameroonian separatist leader Lucas Cho Ayaba, detained in Norway for allegedly inciting crimes against humanity, is now also suspected of war crimes, police and his lawyer said Monday.
Francophone-majority Cameroon has been gripped since 2016 by a bloody conflict in its two anglophone regions, in the northwest and southwest, between separatists and state forces.
At least 6,000 civilians have been killed since the conflict began, according to Human Rights Watch.
Lucas Cho Ayaba, also know as Cho Lucas Yabah, was arrested in September 2024 and has been detained since then with Norwegian authorities arguing he was a flight risk.
The Kripos police unit that deals with war crimes and crimes against humanity, said a man in his fifties, who had been in detention since September 2024 on suspicion of incitement to commit crimes against humanity, was now suspected of additional crimes.
"The new indictment concerns... war crimes," a statement said, adding that the suspect was believed to have a "central role in an ongoing armed conflict in Cameroon."
It said the new suspicions included attempted murder and deprivation of liberty.
"Norway has an international responsibility to ensure that we are not a safe haven for individuals who commit war crimes and crimes against humanity," police prosecutor Anette Berger said.
Berger noted that the case was the first of its kind in Norway.
Ayaba's lawyer, Morten Engesbak, confirmed to AFP that the suspect in question was his client.
"He rejects the charges of incitement to crimes against humanity and incitement to war crimes," Engesbak said.
Police also requested that his detention be extended for another eight weeks.
The conflict in Cameroon erupted after President Paul Biya, who has ruled for more than four decades, violently suppressed peaceful protests by English speakers, many of whom feel marginalised.
The anglophone community comprises about 20 percent of the population.
Ayaba is the leader of the Ambazonia Defence Forces, one of the main armed groups operating in the anglophone areas.
Armed groups fighting for an independent anglophone Cameroon have frequently kidnapped or killed politicians, civil servants and teachers accused of collaborating with the government.
In turn, the army and police are accused of carrying out punishing raids on people accused of being separatist sympathisers.
