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Former Guinean leader Moussa Dadis Camara and five of his co-defendants were sent to prison on Tuesday, before being tried from Wednesday for the abuses committed in a Conakry stadium on September 28, 2009.
Barely returned to Guinea, former President Moussa Dadis Camara is now a prisoner. The former junta leader was arrested and sent to central prison on Tuesday afternoon, along with five other co-defendants. They must be judged from this Wednesday for the abuses committed on September 28, 2009 and the following days when soldiers, police and militiamen had broken up in blood a peaceful demonstration in a stadium in Conakry, killing at least 156 people, thousands injured and 109 women raped.
The former dictator, brought to power by a military coup in December 2008, returned home overnight from Saturday to Sunday after years of exile in Burkina Faso, in order to ” clear one’s honor “. He and five of his co-defendants were summoned to the registry on Tuesday noon. The court had been placed under guard. Their lawyers have also sensed a possible arrest at the end of their interview, seeing the level of security in and around the building.
Among the defendants taken into custody are officers Claude Pivi and Blaise Guémou, as well as the then Minister of Health, Abdoulaye Cherif Diaby. He is accused of having opposed the care of the victims. According to one of the defense lawyers, Me Salifou Béavogui, the six men should remain in the central prison until the end of the procedure. The five other defendants in this case were already behind bars.
The trial which opens this Wednesday has been awaited for 13 years by hundreds of victims, relatives of victims, activists, members of civil society. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. local time in the court built especially for this historic meeting in Guinea.