CCPR/C/112/D/2325/2013 grande instance rejecting the request for the immediate release of the author. It ruled that his immediate release could have been ordered if his detention were based solely on the remand warrant issued by the investigating judge of the Wouri Douala tribunal de grande instance dated 27 June 2013, given that it did not indicate the duration of its validity and was not followed by an order to place him in pretrial detention. Nevertheless, the Court recalled that the author was also the subject of a pretrial detention warrant lawfully issued by the public prosecutor of the Douala-Bonanjo Court of First Instance. It also considered that only the trial court could rule on the lack of competence invoked by the author. On 13 November 2013, the author lodged an appeal on points of law against the Court of Appeal ruling. On several occasions between 14 and 21 November 2013, he attempted unsuccessfully to obtain a copy of the Court of Appeal ruling by going to the courts administration service. He also requested a copy of the ruling in letters addressed to the courts administration service dated 22 and 29 November 2013, of which the service acknowledged receipt. On 7 October and 3 December 2013, the author lodged petitions for release with the Wouri Douala tribunal de grande instance and the Douala-Bonanjo Court of First Instance. To those petitions he attached letters from persons able to guarantee his legal representation. 2.9 The author has described other steps that he has taken to secure his release. As a technical partner of the Government, he informed the Office of the President of the Republic of his situation in letters dated 15 June, 19 August 6 and 4 September 2013. Furthermore, on 1 and 11 October 2013, the author requested that the Attorney General and the Minister of Justice intervene and drop all criminal proceedings against him. On 17 October 2013, he submitted another request for intervention to the Court of First Instance dealing with his case. On 21 October 2013, the judge investigating the complaints lodged by Mr. Mboma and Mr. Kameni closed the investigation and ruled that the charges against him were sufficient, referring the case to the Wouri Douala tribunal de grande instance. 2.10 The author states that he suffers from ptosis, a rare neurodegenerative condition manifesting mainly in frequent attacks affecting the eye, occipital lobe and lumbar region, weakening his left eye.7 Following a medical examination carried out in a specialized centre in France, an outpatient surgical procedure was scheduled to take place in Paris on 25 July 2013.8 2.11 On 19 October 2013, while he was detained, the author suffered a serious bout in which his left eye was completely inflamed and his vision was obstructed, and which caused total hemiplegia of his right side. 9 The author received care from the medical centre at New Bell Prison, which then referred him to specialists, and a series of medical consultations took place. 10 Expert medical reports from those specialist establishments concluded that adequate care for his condition could not be provided in Cameroon. Furthermore, the chief medical officer of the prison informed the author verbally that he 6 7 8 9 10 GE.14-23228 (E) In his letter dated 19 August 2013, the author informed the Office of the President that he had been granted parole. A medical report from his physician in Cameroon, dated 4 November 2013, confirms that the author has been receiving treatment since 2011 and that he suffers from a potentially fatal degenerative eye condition. The attached admissions note from the Adolphe de Rothschild Ophthalmology Foundation in France explains that a short outpatient surgical procedure was planned for 25 July 2013 and that the author was to have been admitted the night before. The documents from the French medical file provided by the author demonstrate that he has undergone various eye examinations (including MRI), but do not indicate that these relate to a degenerative nervous disorder. This incident is confirmed by the medical certificate dated 21 October 2013, issued by a physician at Laquintinie Hospital. At Laquintinie Hospital on 21 October and 21 December 2013 and at Ad Lucem Hospital in Douala on 25 November 2013. 5