2023-07-17 09:05:04
Monday, July 10, at the beginning of the hearing of the trial of the September 28 massacre, an arm rises in the box of the accused. It is that of Marcel Guilavogui, nephew and former bodyguard of Moussa Dadis Camara, the former head of the military junta in power at the time. The man has been in custody for 13 years. He was formally recognized by several witnesses at the stadium, shooting into the crowd and beating up certain political leaders during the bloody repression of an opposition meeting. He always denied having been there. In October 2022, heard for the first time by the Court, he even affirms that he was at the bottom of his bed on September 28, 2009, convalescent, following being the victim of a road accident. This time, he says, he wants to “tell the truth regarding this September 28 event” and he acknowledges that so far he has kept “silence”.
After a month and a half of suspension, and while the trial of the massacre that occurred in 2009 in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, is supposed to resume with the appearance of the civil parties, the president of the court relaunches the debate, questioning in turn different actors.
The prosecutor and the civil parties are in favor of a new hearing of the accused. On the defense side, more divided than ever, opinions are divided. The lawyers of Aboubacar Diakité, known as “Toumba”, Camara’s aide-de-camp at the time of the events, are in favor of Guilavogui’s return to the bar. “When the hour of truth strikes, you have to blow it up,” emphatically proclaims Me Paul Yomba Kourouma. The advice of Dadis Camara fiercely opposes it, while in the past two weeks, press articles have reported tensions between the former head of state and his former protege. Me Pépé Antoine Lamah argues, addressing the president: “If you decide to hear Marcel, which for everyone would be catastrophic, bear in mind that other defendants will also want to speak. Under these conditions, we will go around in circles and finally this trial will be for eternity. »
The president decides. The accused comes forward in his elegant turquoise blue boubou.
The “parallel guard” of Dadis Camara
Guilavogui develops a long introductory statement that will last until the next day. He relies on notes, improvises and sometimes simply reads what is written. He apologizes “to the people of Guinea”, “for [son] silence which some have taken advantage of, he says, to [le] paint black. He explains that he was the victim of intimidation to prevent him from “telling the real facts”. His remarks are disjointed, but to everyone’s surprise, he implicates Dadis Camara.
According to him, it was “Dadis” who “planned” and “ordered” the killings which left more than 150 dead. The massacre was allegedly perpetrated by his “parallel guard”. And he gives a definition: “These are men who are soldiers or civilians that an authority puts in place for its own secret missions, to exercise its power, by camouflage. This parallel guard cannot conjugate the same verb as the real guard, the one known to the people. And he names the main executives: Joseph Makambo, Gono Sangaré, Beugré… These personalities had already been cited by certain defendants for their participation in the bloody repression. But, while the instruction highlighted the leading role played by Guilavogui, suspected of having taken the lead of a group of red berets to go to the stadium, the defendant tries to make people forget this image. He says he was removed from the first circle of power, just months following the coup that allowed Dadis Camara to seize the presidency. The head of state would have started working exclusively “with his parallel guard”.
On the morning of September 28, 2009, he went to the president’s lounge, he said, because he had not seen him for several days. “I heard a big cry of uncontrolled anger, it was that of Moussa Dadis Camara. “Surrounded by his new strength, his parallel guard”, he addresses her in these terms, while the opposition has planned a rally the same day to denounce the possible candidacy of the head of the transition for the presidential election: “What are you doing here, you have to put them down! Who are these leaders not to obey the authority of the state? »
The president’s bodyguard would then have preferred to go home. “I wondered, is this the man we chose to be president? I was disappointed, ”says Guilavogui.
“The man in front of you is a saviour! »
And then it all comes together. Guilavogui says that he sees the procession of Dadis Camara leaving “the presidency for the city”, then that he learns that Toumba is also out. He decides to go to the stadium. There, he identifies “Commander Toumba, Colonel Tiegboro, Beugré and his group”. “Even Makambo, I recognized him because of his little ax that he always had on him. “Just before entering the stadium, he hears” gunshots “. He would have stayed “fifteen minutes” inside, but “didn’t see a body, because that was the start”.
But listening to his story, the prosecutor grows impatient:
– Mr. Marcel, it was said here that the presidential guard committed this massacre and you are part of the presidential guard. You were also at the 28-September stadium. You have been seen. Can you tell this court that you did not participate in this massacre?
– I didn’t kill, hurt or rape at the stadium, I’m not like that. The man in front of you is a saviour!
However, he struggles to explain to the court why he took out a grenade in front of the Ambroise Paré clinic, where some injured leaders had been admitted for treatment. According to several testimonies, it was Colonel Tiegboro, also accused in this trial, who took them to the health centre. Guilavogui tells a very different version: “As soon as he came down [de son pick-up], I attacked him, I said you’re under arrest. You misled Dadis! You have spoiled the power! “One of his elements then points his weapon at him, narrates Guilavogui. “I had to defend myself. I took out my grenade. Me, I only had one grenade, Mr. Prosecutor. Everywhere I went I took it, even in the shower. The audience is hilarious.
This new hearing, which had raised a lot of expectations, finally leaves many questions unanswered. It’s his word once morest that of the other defendants. “Tell me, between you who were alone in your vehicle, according to your version, and those who drove the leaders to the clinic, which of you tried to save the leaders? You sincerely believe that we can believe your version here? “, challenges Me Alpha Amadou DS Bah, lawyer for the civil parties. And to continue: “Your story has started well. On Captain Dadis, you confirmed everything Toumba said, but why don’t you want to help the court and say exactly what you did? At the bar, Guilavogui explodes, no longer even speaks into the microphone, we can only half hear what he says. Then he lapses into silence.
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