Tired of repeated protests and incidents caused by the presence of the Cameroonian president in Geneva, the Confederation encouraged him to leave the country.

Paul Biya and his wife Chantal took off from Geneva-Cointrin airport on Friday, July 5th at 12:30 PM. They had arrived on the shores of Lake Geneva on the evening of Sunday, June 23rd, and had planned to stay for several weeks at the Intercontinental Hotel, where they usually reserve an entire floor.

However, nothing went as planned. Political opponents continually disrupted their stay.

The members of President Biya’s security service were so violent towards a Swiss radio journalist that the Geneva court sentenced six of them to suspended prison sentences.

With another protest scheduled for Saturday, July 6th, Bern strongly encouraged this somewhat troublesome foreign guest to cut short his stay.

In diplomatic terms, the spokesperson for the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) told La Tribune de Genève: “The FDFA is aware of this departure. It has not been absent from this discussion over the past few days.”