UPDATE: GUINEA JUNTA SACKS SOLDIERS, PRISON OFFICERS AFTER EX-DICTATOR’S JAILBREAK
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Agency Report
Following a jailbreak in which armed commandos freed former dictator Moussa Dadis Camara from prison and left nine people dead, the ruling junta in Guinea has fired sixty soldiers and prison guards from the security forces, officials announced on Monday.
Prominently armed individuals stormed the Conakry prison early on Saturday, capturing Camara and three other former high-ranking officials who are on trial with him for a 2009 massacre that occurred under his presidency.
A preliminary toll from the raid indicates that nine individuals perished.
As their lawyers have claimed, it is still unclear if the group managed to flee or was seized against their will.
The army described the operation as an attempt to “sabotage” government reforms and swore its “unwavering commitment” to the current military-led regime.
The officials have stated that they have the situation under control and have repeatedly urged people to be calm.
“Thank God, this event has stopped the chaos that evil minds wanted to create,” Prime Minister Bernard Goumou declared on Sunday.
“Remain calm, stay peaceful, and may everyone carry on quietly about their business,” he pleaded with the crowd.
On Monday, things resumed as usual in the Kaloum commercial and administrative sector, which also houses Conakry’s major prison.
However, security personnel were thoroughly inspecting all cars entering the district in an effort to find weapons and Colonel Claude Pivi, the final prisoner to escape, who is still at large.
Camara was taken along with two other males, who were also taken back to prison.
Nine people perished in the jailbreak operation, according to a statement released on Monday by Prosecutor General Yamoussa Conte.
Out of the group of eight, four were security personnel, and the other two were probably civilians who had been caught in the crossfire after being in an ambulance. Of the assailants, three were suspected of being involved.
In addition, the prosecutor general declared that he was going to launch an inquiry into Camara and the other three guys for allegedly manslaughtering and killing security force personnel.
The West African junta, which took over in September 2021, said late on Sunday that scores of military personnel and prison administration employees would no longer be able to work in their current positions.
Among those taken out were Pivi, a prominent figure under Camara, and two other colonels who broke out of jail on Saturday.
After her trial began in September 2022, Camara, 58, was placed under arrest.
Along with roughly ten other former government and military officials, including the three colonels, he is suspected of being involved in a 2009 massacre that was carried out by security forces that were loyal to the then-junta leader.
A UN-mandated investigation found that during a political rally attended by opposition supporters in a Conakry stadium on September 28 and in the days that followed, at least 109 women were raped and about 156 people were slain.
Camara, who took over in a coup in December 2008, is accused of murder, sexual assault, torture, kidnapping, and abduction along with his co-defendants.
In a nation where autocratic governments have governed for decades and people have become accustomed to the security services acting with impunity, the trial is unusual.
It was postponed owing to a lawyer strike, which was scheduled to resume on Monday.
Following the death of Guinea’s second post-independence president, Lansana Conte, who had ruled autocratically for 24 years, Camara took over immediately.
After sustaining a head wound in an attempted assassination by his aide de camp in December 2009, Camara was removed from office several months after the atrocity.
After receiving medical attention in Morocco, he fled into exile in Burkina Faso and returned to Guinea last year to face charges.
The 14 million-person nation of Guinea is presently governed by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, who deposed Alpha Conde, the civilian president, in September 2021.
AFP
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