Forest conservation activist freed and expelled

The High Court in the Republic of Congo (ROC) capital, Brazzaville, has freed and expelled Joseph Melloh Mindako, a Cameroonian, who was accused of undermining state security. The expulsion, announced on Monday, will prohibit Melloh from returning to the ROC for five years. During his trial, Melloh pleaded not guilty, stating that he had been working for the conservation of the ROC's forests, and had previously conducted similar campaigns in the Central African Republic, Gabon and Kenya without being harassed. Police arrested Melloh on 13 May 2002 in Pokola, about 35 km from Ouesso, the main town of the northern Sangha region, as he was conducting interviews with "indigenous people" (a reference to pygmies) in forest concessions of the Congolaise Industrielle des Bois. He was investigating disparity of salaries paid to Bantu and Pygmy employees, ecosystem conservation, and adherence to proper forestry practices. He spent 48 days in the Central Prison of Brazzaville after having spent a month in other jails of the national intelligence agency (Direction de la surveillance du territoire). Timber is second only to petroleum as the ROC's most important export. Sixty percent of the country is under forest cover.