Guinea: Moussa Tadis Kamara appears in court

Guinea’s former president Moussa Dadis Camara appeared in court in Conakry on Tuesday, where he and ten other former military and government officials must answer Wednesday for the gruesome massacre on September 28, 2009, his lawyer Me Pépé Antoine Lamah said.

The 11 defendants in the historic trial were called to the register at noon, ahead of their appearance on Wednesday. Lawyers for some of them have expressed concern that they will be detained before the trial begins.

An AFP reporter saw Colonel and Health Minister Abdoulaye Sherif Diaby arrive in good time. He was charged with resisting the care of the victims.

Claude Pivi and Blaise Guémou are also players, Me Lamah added. Prohibitions on access to the court cannot tell whether other defendants have responded to the summons.

All 11 men must answer for their actions on September 28, 2009 and the following days from 10:00 am (local and GMT) on Wednesday.

From running for president in January 2010, Mr. As opposition supporters gathered at Conakry Maidan to stop Kamara and peacefully demonstrate their strength, soldiers, police and militias caused bloodshed.

Captain Moussa Tadis Kamara was brought to power in a military coup in December 2008.

On and after September 28, 2009, 156 people were killed and thousands injured in rampant violence, and at least 109 women were raped, according to a report by the UN-mandated International Commission of Inquiry. The actual number may be higher.

Abuses are crimes against humanity and warrant international investigation. They continued in the days that followed, against isolated women and tortured prisoners.

Moussa Dadis Camara has been living in exile in Burkina Faso, but returned to Conakry overnight from Saturday to Sunday to take part in the trial.

Deferrals of power and impunity have long cast doubt on the conduct of the inquiry, which, according to the international commission, established an “institution” of untouchable security forces in a country ruled for decades by authoritarian regimes.