By NDI EUGENE NDI

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Cameroonian authorities have released a young activist detained last week after posting a video on TikTok advocating democratic change in the country ahead of next year's presidential election, his lawyers said.

Barrister Akere Muna, lead lawyer for Junior Ngombe, 23, told the media in Yaoundé on Wednesday that the activist had been granted bail and that no charges had yet been filed against him.

“After the investigation, authorities may decide to either drop the case or press charges,” said the lawyer, who is also an opposition politician.

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Ngombe, a hairdresser and social media influencer with more than 12,000 followers on TikTok, was arrested in the country's second city Douala on July 24 and taken to the gendarmerie headquarters, also known as the State Defence Secretariat (SED), in the capital Yaoundé, where he was detained.

The move drew widespread criticism, with rights advocates describing it as a crackdown on freedom of expression by the government of President Paul Biya.

Human Rights Watch said Cameroon has increasingly restricted freedom of expression and association.

Ngombe was first taken to a gendarmerie post in Douala before being transferred the next day to the SED, a gendarmerie-run detention centre in Yaoundé, where HRW said it had previously documented "widespread use of torture".

“Cameroonian authorities should listen to peaceful demands for reform instead of stifling freedom of expression,” HRW said in a statement on Monday.

In several TikTok videos, Ngombe encouraged people to register to vote in the February 2025 presidential election, advocated for democratic change, and questioned the authorities' intolerance of criticism.

In one of the videos, he expresses doubt that even if Cameroon's youth register massively ahead of next year's presidential election, the system will still rig the vote.

“I know many of you have not yet registered for the presidential election -- no worries, I know you will,” Ngombe says in French. “I have already enrolled on the electoral list, but I know that, even if millions of us register massively, the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement … will still do everything possible to win.”

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Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at HRW, said Ngombe's release was good news for Cameroon, but called for all charges against him to be dropped.

“His place is not in prison,” she posted on X. “He should have never been arrested in the first place.”

The young activist's arrest comes days after authorities warned against the use of "irreverent or offensive" language against President Biya.

The warning by Rene Emmanuel Sadi, Minister of Communication and government spokesman, came in the wake of fierce criticism of the 91-year-old president's move to extend his four-decade rule after his current term expires next year.