Death of Bishop of Bafia: Judicial Inquiry Report Contradicts the Church

The preliminary judicial inquiry report into the suspicious death of the Bishop of Bafia, Jean Marie Benoit Bala has debunked allege claims earlier pronounced by the Catholic Episcopal Conference that the late prelate was assassinated. In a Press Release issued today July 4, 2017, the Procureur General at the Centre Court of Appeal has revealed that after close examination by local medical doctors, and later by Interpol experts they found no traces of violence on the body of the deceased.  Here below is the Press Release

 Press Release

 The Procureur General at the Centre Court of Appeal wishes to inform the public that the judicial inquiry into the suspicious death of Mgr Jean Marie Benoit Bala, Bishop of the Diocese of Bafia, is effectively continuing.

At the current stage, investigators have questioned many persons and conducted various searches. Information gathered is being processed to establish the truth.

Post-Morten examinations were carried out on the mortal remains of the Bishop of Bafia. After initial examination by two teams of local medical doctors on 2 and 22 June 2017, the decision was taken to the resort to international expertise through INTERPOL. The forensic medical doctors sent by INTERPOL for that purpose, namely Professor Michael TSOKOS, Director of the Berlin Institute of Forensic Medicine in Germany, and Doctor Mark MULDER, Coordinator of the Disaster Victim Identification Unit of INTERPOL, arrived Cameroon on 29 June 2017. After close examination, they noticed the absence of any traces of violence on the body of the deceased and concluded; in this light that drowning was the most probable cause of the Bishop’s death.

Medical and forensic examinations having been completed, the corpse of Mgr Jean Marie Benoit BALA has been handed over to the authorities the Catholic Church for burial.

Investigations are continuing to establish the exact circumstances of this tragedy. The findings of the related enquiry will be made known to the public in due course. 

Yaounde 04 July 2017

Jean Fils TAMACK

Procureur General at the Centre Court of Appeal   

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