Cameroon footballer still in police custody in Minsk

Gui Fransois Tukam, a Cameroon national and the goalkeeper of a Norwegian futsal side, has been in a police detention center in Minsk for one month, awiating deportation. He arrived in Minsk to take part in a tournamen, but he was detained in the Minsk International Airport on suspicion of having forged his passport. Belarus sent a request to the Cameroonian embassy in Moscow, but it allegedly took some time for the embassy to reply. However Euroradio has learned that the diplomatic mission recognised all the documents of the sportsman as valid. The papers to confirm this was sent to Minsk 10 days ago. "The consul sent the reply ten days ago", said a staff at the embassy in Moscow.

The Cameroonian mujst be deported by the border guard unit at the Minsk airport but the officer on duty said no papers on the athlete had been received.

But local human rights activists, who are trying to help the sportsman, have already received the copies of the papers from the Cameroonian embassy. They were sent by the girl friend of the sportsman, human rights lawyer Valyantsin Stefanovich told Euroradio. It turned out that border guards saw problems with the passport, because its number did not match the number of the insert”. Stefanovich also said the embassy sent the documents in French and Russian, confirming Tukama's identity and his passport. The embassy also sent a document which allows the man to travel to any country in the world.

The activists wanted to send their copies to the border service, but the latter said they would sort everything out by themselves. It is yet to be known how much time it will take and when Tukama will be freed from the police detention.

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