By RFIPosted on 09-27-2019editing 27-09-2019 at 04:32

Guinea commemorates Saturday the 10th anniversary of the 28 September stadium massacre. Since then, the authorities have laid the groundwork for a trial against the perpetrators of the violence. But ten years later, this process is slow to be organized. Several civil society organizations are calling on the authorities to speed up the process.

Ten years ago, thousands of people gathered at the stadium to protest against the candidacy of then-junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara. The crackdown on this rally killed at least 157 people. Nearly 109 women were raped.

Since 2009 and the massacre at the September 28 stadium, 13 suspects have been indicted. Among them, Moussa Dadis Camara, the former head of the junta; Mamadouba Toto Camara, who was his vice-president or Toumba Diakité, his former aide-de-camp. At present, of the 13 suspects, three are in detention.

The investigation was closed at the end of 2017, a steering committee was set up to organize the trial. 450 victims were civil parties. But they remain frustrated by the slow pace.

" Even if there were acts, we believe that the purpose is the organization of the trial to allow certain victims and witnesses to be present when it comes to this trial ," says Abdoul Gadiry Diallo, the president of the Guinean Human Rights Organization. In the sense that some are already dying. We would have liked the Guinean authorities to make the decision to designate the court and set it up. And in addition, announce the date of the opening of the trial . "

For his part, the Minister of Justice, Mohamed Lamine Fofana, ensures that the " political will " is " unequivocal ". There are, however, two practical constraints to overcome: the renovation of the Court of Appeal which will host this trial; and the preparation of magistrates and judicial personnel who will be in charge of this file.

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