Guinean authorities on Wednesday said they will prosecute former President Alpha Condé for murder and other crimes committed during his presidential tenure, reported Reuters.
The 84-year-old Conde, who became the first democratically elected president in the history of the West African country in 2010, was toppled in a military coup led by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, a former Special Forces commander, last September.
Doumbouya has since been sworn in as interim president and implemented a crackdown on alleged corruption by the former regime.
The charges against President Conde and 26 of his former officials range from complicity in murder and assault to destruction of property, according to a document signed by the attorney general. The list of alleged crimes also includes detention, torture, kidnapping, disappearances, rape, and other sexual abuse and looting.
Other than the former Guinean president, a former president of the constitutional court, ex-speakers of parliament, a former prime minister, and many former ministers, legislators, and heads of the security services have been prosecuted.
According to public prosecutor Alphonse Charles Wright, who was appointed by the junta, said the prosecution began after a complaint filed by the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC), an umbrella group that led protests against the former Guinean president.
The public turned furious after Conde altered the constitution to run for a third term in October 2020. The opposition alleged irregularities in the voting results, which saw him winning with 59.5 percent of the vote. Repeated mass protests led to the death of at least 17 people.
Condé’s future became a major issue between the junta and the regional bloc ECOWAS after the coup. The military initially detained him and then allowed him to go to the United Arab Emirates for medical treatment in January. He returned home on April 10. On April 22, the junta freed Conde from house arrest.
