Guinean court sentences former military leader Dadis Camara to 20 years in prison for 2009 massacre

Jul 31. (EUROPA PRESS) –

A Dixinn court on Wednesday sentenced former Guinean military chief Musa Dadis Camara to 20 years in prison for crimes against humanity for his role in the 2009 massacre that left at least 156 people dead inside a stadium in the capital, Conakry.

The verdict was announced by Judge Ibrahima Sory II Tounkara. Colonels Moussa Tiegboro Camara, head of the anti-drug services, and Claude Pvi Coplan were also sentenced to 20 years and life imprisonment respectively, according to RTG.

Dadis Camara’s military ‘right-hand man’, Lieutenant Aboubacar Sidiki Chérif Diakité, alias ‘Toumba’, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, while Blaise Goumou has been sentenced to 15 years and Mamadou Aliou Keïta will spend 11 years behind bars.

The prosecution had requested a life sentence for Dadis Camara, accused of having orchestrated the massacre inside the stadium, where hundreds of people had asked him not to take part in the elections of 11 October in which he was competing against the former president of Guinea Alpha Condé. The Guinean authorities indicted the former military leader in July 2015.

A United Nations commission of inquiry determined that at least 156 people were killed and 109 women and girls raped and subjected to other forms of sexual violence during the events. Dadis Camara, however, has always maintained that it was all part of a plot orchestrated by political rivals.

Camara presided over the country for almost a year after staging a coup in 2008 shortly after the death of Lansana Conté (1984-2008), although his reputation was damaged by the aforementioned massacre of opponents at the 28 de Septiembre Stadium.

The events of 28 September 2009 are considered one of the worst acts of repression in West Africa. In the massacre, security forces opened fire on protesters who were calling on Dadis Camara not to stand in the 2010 elections.