The Guinean junta threatens to “suspend” parties and civil organizations after the latest protests

It affirms that it will act against groups that incur “criminal responsibilities” and deploys the Army

18 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Guinea’s military junta has threatened to “suspend” the activities of political parties and social organizations that may have incurred “criminal liabilities” following recent demonstrations in the capital, Conakry, to demand a transition to civilian rule.

The Minister of Land Administration and Decentralization, Mory Condé, has said that those responsible for the incidents, which resulted in two deaths, according to the opposition, will be “judicially investigated by the competent authorities.”

Likewise, it has emphasized that later “sanctions will be applied, including the suspension (of activities)”, without giving more details in this regard, according to the Guinean news portal Media Guinée.

Condé has denounced acts of “urban guerrilla” during the protests and has given a balance of eight demonstrators and 20 police officers injured during the riots, without ruling on deaths despite complaints from the opposition National Front in Defense of the Constitution (FNDC), officially dissolved by the Guinean authorities.

On the other hand, it has announced the deployment of the Armed Forces “to support the forces of the Police and the Gendarmerie” in the face of what it has described as “increasing threats against the physical integrity of citizens”, as reported the French station Radio France Internationale.

The protest was called by the FNDC despite the fact that the Guinean junta has prohibited mobilizations to demand a return to constitutional order in the face of delays by the military authorities in calling elections after the 2021 coup.

In August, the opposition body transferred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) a list with the names of thirteen people for their alleged role in the repression of the protests, including the leader of the military junta and transitional president, Mamady Doumbouya.

The National Committee for Reconciliation and Development (CNRD) –official name of the board– was formed in the African country after the coup in September 2021 against the then president, Alpha Condé, after months of political crisis in the country due to Condé’s decision to modify the Constitution to run for a third term and his victory in the 2020 presidential elections, in which the rest of the candidates denounced fraud.