Guinea court finds former junta leader guilty in 2009 stadium massacre

Guinea's former President Moussa Dadis Camara, who is accused of responsibility for the 2009 massacre and mass rape of pro-democracy protesters by forces linked to a former military junta, talks during his trial in Conakry, Guinea September 28, 2022. /Souleymane Camara/File Photo

CONAKRY, Guinea - A court in Guinea on Wednesday found former junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara and seven other accused military commanders guilty of crimes against humanity in a 2009 stadium massacre.

Their charges, which included murder, rape, torture and kidnapping, were reclassified to crimes against humanity, the court said.

Four others accused were found not guilty.

Camara, 60, was the ruler of Guinea when more than 150 people were killed during a pro-democracy rally on Sept. 28, 2009.

The former leader, who escaped from prison in November last year during an armed jailbreak but was later recaptured, sat impassively in court dressed in a black and gold traditional bubu robe as the verdict was read. Camara, who had denied the charges and pleaded not guilty, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Another high-level official, Lieutenant Aboubacar Sidiki Diakite, sometimes known as "Toumba", received a sentence of 10 years in prison due to his cooperation with the court.

Colonel Moussa Tiegboro Camara, secretary of state in charge of fighting organised crime, was sentenced to 20 years.

In the 2009 incident, tens of thousands of people had gathered at a stadium in Conakry to press Camara not to stand in a presidential election the following year. Many were shot, stabbed, beaten or crushed in a stampede as security forces fired teargas and charged the stadium.

At least a dozen women were raped by security forces, prosecutors said during the trial.

"This is a widespread and systematic attack by armed men against a civilian population," the judge said while reading the verdict.

He added that families of those who were killed will get 2 billion Guinean francs ($233,890) for each victim while rape and torture victims will receive 1 billion each.

($1 = 8,551.0000 Guinea francs)