In a prison break that briefly freed Guinea former military ruler Moussa Dadis Camara and three other officials out of a central prison on Saturday morning, nine persons have been confirmed dead.
Ministry of Justice in a statement on Monday maintained that the escape prompted authorities to launch a nationwide manhunt.
Camara, who following a coup served as president from December 2008 until January 2010, was back in Conakry’s Central House prison by the end of the day.
In a provisional assessment of the prison break, the Justice Ministry said nine bodies had been found, including that of three attackers and four members of Guinea’s defence forces.
Six others were being treated for gunshot wounds in hospital.
The West African country of about 14 million people underwent a coup in September 2021, when Colonel Mamady Doumbouya stormed the presidential palace with soldiers and overthrew civilian President Alpha Conde. It has been led by the military government since.
Camara has been in detention since going on trial in September 2022. He and about 10 other former military and government officials are accused in a 2009 attack carried out by security forces loyal to the then-military government leader.
The killing of 156 people and the rape of at least 109 women started at a political rally in a Conakry stadium on September 28, 2009 and continued in the days that followed, according to a United Nations-mandated inquiry.
Camara and his co-defendants are charged with murder, sexual violence, torture, abduction and kidnapping. They face life imprisonment if convicted.
|Aljazeera
