The historic trial of former Guinean dictator Moussa Dadis Camara and his co-accused, tried for the massacre of September 28, 2009, resumed on Monday July 10. He had been suspended since May 29, with lawyers refusing to plead because they said they had still not been paid. It was due to resume on June 21, after an agreement was reached between the two sides, but was postponed again following a strike by prison guards.
Despite the resumption of the trial, the lawyers kept up the pressure on the Ministry of Justice. “We gave them the month of July to solve the problem” of payment, still unresolved, said Me Antoine Pépé Lamah, one of the defense lawyers, reached by telephone by AFP. He is confident about the upcoming disbursement of the money. “We will fulfill our part of the commitment by appearing in court this Monday and the days that follow. If, at the end of this month, the promises made are not fulfilled when it resumes [after the judicial recess], we will [resume] the boycott,” he continued.
A dozen defendants
The NGO Human Rights Watch was alarmed by the uncertainties about the future of the trial. Former dictator Moussa Dadis Camara and a dozen former military and government officials have been answering before the judges since September 28, 2022 for dozens of assassinations and a litany of crimes, sexual violence, acts of torture, kidnappings and kidnappings , committed in and around a stadium in Conakry on September 28, 2009 and the following days.
At least 156 people were killed and hundreds more injured, and at least 109 women were raped, according to the report of a UN-mandated international commission of inquiry. The actual numbers are likely higher.
