The former head of Guinea’s military junta “escaped from prison”? Lawyer: He was kidnapped | Moussa Dadis Camara

[The Epoch Times, November 05, 2023](Comprehensive report by Epoch Times reporter Li Yan) The lawyer of Guinea’s former military junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara announced on Saturday (November 4) ) said Camara had been taken back into custody and denied that his client had voluntarily participated in the armed escape earlier in the day, saying it was in fact a kidnapping by force.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, residents of Guinea’s capital, Conakry, were awakened by gunfire. Camara and three other officers were taken hostage from the central prison by heavily armed men, and Guinean authorities immediately launched a nationwide manhunt.

On Saturday afternoon, Camara’s lawyer, Pepe Antoine Lamah, posted on social media that Camara had returned to Conakry Central Prison.

He did not reveal how his client was imprisoned again, but accused the government of failing to protect those behind bars.

“Kamara was indeed kidnapped early this morning by heavily armed men who forced him into a vehicle,” he said. “Categorizing a kidnapping as an escape is…unacceptable and even inappropriate. .”

The justice minister earlier said an investigation had been launched into Camara and others involved in the alleged jailbreak.

The whereabouts of the other “escaped” officers are currently unknown.

Camara and others are being held at the central prison in Kaloum district. Local residents told Reuters that gunshots were heard in the Calum administrative district in the early hours of Saturday, and military vehicles and special forces appeared on the streets to maintain law and order. Soldiers patrolled the streets in armored personnel carriers, while armed police stopped to search passing vehicles.

The incident highlights Guinea’s fragile security situation. Guinea is currently ruled by another military junta. The current military junta seized power in a 2021 coup. There have been eight such coups in West and Central Africa in the past three years.

Camara and others have been on trial since last year. They are accused of planning a massacre and gang rape by Guinean security forces at a pro-democracy rally on September 28, 2009, which left 150 people dead.

Kamala denied responsibility, blaming the atrocities on ill-behaved soldiers.

He previously led a 2008 military coup and ruled Guinea, Africa’s largest bauxite exporter, for nearly a year until he was wounded in an assassination attempt in December 2009.

Although the massacre tarnished his reputation, he remained popular in the Southeast. Survivors and victims’ families had hoped the trial would finally provide them with justice.

Editor in charge: Li Yuan#