Published on : 24/04/2022 – 03:21
The release of former President Alpha Condé, overthrown by a military coup on September 5 by Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya, who has since been invested as Guinean head of state, raises questions. This release less than 72 hours from the fateful date of April 25 – a strict deadline imposed by ECOWAS on the junta to produce a consensual timetable for the return of power to civilians – is it political or judicial?
With our correspondent in Conakry, Mouctar Bah
This decision raises questions within civil society between those who approve of it and those who condemn it. Some consider this decision of the junta as a maneuver to allow Alpha Condé, 84, to escape justice in his country.
Alsény Sall, spokesperson for the Guinean Human Rights Organization. ” For us, the first job that the CNRD should do is to submit its case to justice, which is the only authority to decide on the rights and freedoms of citizens. All the more so there were already complaints against Mr. Alpha Condé, but also against some of his collaborators on cases of human rights violations. This explained the total support of pro-democracy activists for the coup ».
The ECOWAS ultimatum may have contributed to the release of the former president. The reaction of Sékou Koundouno, head of strategy and planning at the FNDC: “ The CNRD should not get the wrong strategy. No ECOWAS paid attention to the release of Alpha Condé. If they do, maybe it’s a communication strategy, but it’s not the request of ECOWAS ».
This civil society activist asks the junta “ not to confuse a transition regime with a regime resulting from the ballot box ». « We are in a period of transition, we need dialogue, he continues, we need consultation between all the living forces of the nation, because in any case no entity today enjoys legitimacy ».
The RPG, the former ruling party which had made the release of Alpha Condé one of its major demands before taking part in the national meetings and the political consultations initiated by the junta, is awaiting the effectiveness of this release. to react, said one of its officials.