2023-11-07 18:20:59
The weekend was turbulent in Conakry with the escape on Saturday at dawn of four of the accused in the trial of the massacre of September 28, 2009. Three of them, including the former head of the junta Moussa Dadis Camara returned to their prison on Saturday evening. His lawyer claims he was taken without his knowledge. This Monday morning, however, Colonel Claude Pivi, his former Minister of Security, is still nowhere to be found. His son allegedly organized the operation. What happened ? Was there any complicity? Will the current trial suffer from this event? RFI asked these questions to the spokesperson for the Guinean transitional government Ousmane Gaoual Diallo.
RFI: Of the four people who left the central house in Conakry on Saturday morning, only one, Colonel Claude Pivi, is still on the run. What do we know about his situation?
Ousmane Gaoual Diallo: Look, what we can say is that arrangements are being put in place to ensure that he returns quickly to the central house safe and sound and that he can participate in the manifestation of the truth about the events of September 28. Now, if he were not found quickly, it could not, in any case, hinder the conduct of the trial.
For you, he has no chance of escaping?
Look, given the arrangements put in place, there is very little chance, we can’t say none, but there is very little chance that he will escape. The best thing would be for him to find a way to make himself available to justice. We must ensure that all this stops and that we can proceed peacefully with this trial.
This Sunday evening new information was brought to the attention of the authorities suggesting that there was indeed internal complicity at the remand center.
Yes, there was an acceleration of investigations which provided clarification showing that the commando was able to enter because agents stationed on site let them in, opened the door for them. Objective elements are available to attest to this and the immediate consequence is that strong decisions were taken at this level. All people who were formally identified were removed, whether they belonged to the army, the gendarmerie or were prison officers. They are all removed from the workforce and Coronthie prison is placed under a high security regime with a very strong presence of agents from the Defense and Security Forces who will continue to secure the premises for as long as possible.
Who are the people removed?
Dadis [Camara] had not been in the military for a while, so the three escapees are Colonels Tiegboro, Goumou and Pivi. To this is added nearly 75 other people, whether they belong to the red berets of the battalion which was on duty there, whether they belong to the Republican Guard at the Camayenne camp, some of whom were responsible for monitoring that section, as well as gendarmes who were on the scene and penitentiary guards.
With these significant complicities, don’t you fear other destabilizing events?
No, there is no particular concern. It is a fact, which is proven. The investigations accelerated with the gendarmerie implying this under the control of the judicial system. And I think that, in the hours that follow, broader information will be communicated. In any case, this is the logical continuation of what should happen when complicity is proven. As for the army, they are making their arrangements. I think justice should follow.
We heard on our antenna Moussa DadisCamara’s lawyer defending his client’s good faith, assuring that he had been taken without his knowledge. But do you think he escaped?
It’s hard to say that someone was transported on a motorcycle without their knowledge. It is difficult to explain. Now we will wait to have the explanations. What we don’t want is to get into polemic games with lawyers. I think that the lawyer, he must have perhaps spoken in good faith based on the information he had at the time he communicated. But we have to wait to understand how it all happened, that will allow us to give the right version to all parties.
What can you tell us about the recovery of Moussa Dadis Camara and his return to the central house?
It went very well. There was no resistance or exchange of gunfire, it went very well. Now, what is clear, we should understand that the trial of September 28 is not only a trial to punish the guilty, it is also a trial to reconcile Guineans with their History. And it’s important for us, it’s important for History, it’s important for the people of Guinea and even for Africa.
But you, don’t you fear any impact, even in the long term, of this event on the trial?
No, not at this stage. We could have feared if we had not been able to find the fugitives. Now, at this stage where most of the people who tried to escape from the prison have been found, this should facilitate the progress of the trial. And we hope that the fourth person who is still on the run will return to prison, to ensure that the trial can continue peacefully and that Guineans can ultimately continue to follow this. It is a passionate trial, to which we all have particular attention. And so at this stage, we really don’t have to fear the worst.
►NB : the hearings were to resume this Monday but are postponed due to a lawyers’ strike which lasts at least the whole week.
By: François Mazet RFI
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