Trial of September 28 in Guinea: the ICC visits the Conakry court
A view of the city of Conakry (Illustrative image).
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3 mins
In Guinea, will the September 28 trial open on the 26th of this month?
It is a desire displayed by the authorities, particularly by the President of the Transition, Mamadi Doumbouya.
For 48 hours, a delegation from the International Criminal Court has been in Conakry to ensure that all the conditions, including technical ones, for the holding of this trial are met.
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With our special correspondent in Conakry
,
Guillaume Thibault
This is the heart of this future trial: the
ad hoc
tribunal .
Located behind the Court of Appeal, in the Kaloum district, its construction began in 2019. Without this tool and compliance with international standards: no trial.
Vice-Prosecutor at the ICC, Mame Mandiaye Niang leads this assessment mission.
And everything is checked: security, internet, courtroom, down to the smallest detail.
After an hour of visit, the results are positive, believes the Senegalese lawyer: “
This first challenge, which is a logistical challenge, is about to be won.
Especially with the desire, too, to support the national effort to bring justice to Guineans by Guineans
.
»
Present at the site visit, Abdourahmane Sikhé Camara, Secretary General of the Government, is pleased with the progress of the work: “
We are at more than 90%.
We are all convinced that this trial of September 28, 2009 will indeed take place
.
»
Will of the president of the transition Mamadi Doumbouya, the opening of the trial before the symbolic date of September 28 is a possibility, estimates Mame Mandiaye Niang: “
Perhaps the date can be readjusted, it is an indication.
The strong indication was that, at the latest, on the anniversary date, that the trial be held.
»
Ultimate challenge to complete the finishing touches of the
ad hoc
tribunal : bring from Turkey the 600 seats and the desk where the court in charge of the September 28 trial will be installed.
Waiting for victims
Asmaou Diallo, who chairs AVIPA, the Association of Victims, Parents and Friends of September 28, welcomes the authorities' announcements, but is waiting for concrete facts.
“
We asked so much, we asked so much, 13 years ago today.
In the first speech that we followed with Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya, we heard about justice and that really gave us more courage.
It was with a military transition that we were massacred: there were rapes, there were deaths, disappearances... And today, with soldiers who are returning and who are committed to justice , it's something new and we were really very satisfied.
The proof is that today, the president of the transition makes the commitment to judge this file.
»
“
Now, what worries us, she continues, is in relation to the participation of all the accused persons.
And that we have a clear, fair trial, a truth trial, that it is not a botched trial.
Let it not be a trial just to say that we have had a trial.
»
► To read also: Guinea: one year after the coup, the mixed results of the president of the League of Human Rights
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