Before the trial in relation to the 2009 massacre got underway, Judge Ibrahima Sory 2 Tounkara was little known to the Guinean public.
It is more than two months into the trial over who were responsible for the mass killing of civilians at a stadium in Conakry 13 years ago.
This historic trial involves eleven former Guinean military and government officials including former junta head Captain Moussa Dadis Camara.
The hearings are taking place at the Dixinn criminal court relocated inside the Court of Appeal in Conakry, under the presidency of Ibrahima Sory 2 Tounkara, a 45-year-old judge who has attracted attention by observers since the trial began.
Despite his cold gaze plunging into a wrinkled forehead, Tunkara, a native of Conakry appears courteous with all parties to the case, even those with the defence.
Behind this persona is a quiet determination to ensure that the rights of the defendants are respected if they do not want to answer the lawyers’ questions again or if their health does not allow them to stay in the dock for long periods.
On Monday 5 December 2022, he decided to postpone the trial for a week after Moussa Dadis Camara informed him that he was unwell.
Always focused on his subject, Judge Tounkara does not let himself be overwhelmed by the sometimes-hilarious reactions of some defendants, such as the former head of the presidential guard, Aboubacar Sidiki Diakité known as Toumba.
He also does not fail to control respondents when things start to get out of hand in the courtroom.
“The court informs you that it will not accept certain comments, especially ethnic or regionalist. This trial is not an ethnic or regionalist trial. This trial is organised for the manifestation of the truth… And it is Guineans who are here. Because all the components are represented in this trial. So, it is not directed against any ethnicity or region,” he said at the start of the 23rd day of the trial in November.
Home-grown judge
Until now, Ibrahima Sory 2 Tounkara’s career as a magistrate has been far from the limelight, and he presents the typical profile of an intellectual trained and honed in Guinea. Some people would be tempted to say that he was inspired in his choice of career by his elder brother: Ibrahima Sory 1 Tounkara, also a magistrate and president of the court of first instance in the town of Kaloum near Conakry.
Unlike the cardinal numerical adjectives contained in their common first name, Ibrahima Sory 2 Tounkara has a particular background before obtaining promotions in his country’s judiciary.
Mohamed Lamine Diallo, general counsel at the Court of Appeal of Conakry, considers his colleague as a “professional, discreet and humble magistrate.”
After obtaining his baccalaureate in 1998 at the Lycée du 2 Octobre in Kaloum, Ibrahima Sory 2 Tounkara was accepted at the Faculty of Economic and Legal Sciences (FSJP) of the Gamal Abdel Nasser University of Conakry.
Specialised in private law, he successively defended his Diploma in General University Studies (DEUG), and obtained a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees before being admitted to the competitive examination of the Centre for Judicial Training and Documentation (CFDJ).
After his training in the 2007-2009 class of the CFDJ, he was appointed in turn as correctional judge at the court of first instance of Kaloum and the court of first instance of Mafanco, in the Guinean capital.
He headed these jurisdictions until 2018 and ‘ensured the smooth running of this section through decisions rendered with complete impartiality’, according to witnesses.’
It is following these experiences that he was called to preside over the court of first instance of Macenta (south) before his assignment to the court of first instance of Mamou (centre).
After the overthrow of President Alpha Condé in September 2021 by a group of military officers led by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, the new Guinean authorities made a sea change in the judicial system.
Ibrahima Sory 2 Tounkara was first appointed president of the court of first instance of Coyah (west) before landing in September 2022 at the court of first instance of Dixinn.
His main mission is to “organise and direct the service for a better administration of justice.”
Professional or biased?
Since 28 September, he has been leading the 28 September trial at the Dixinn criminal court.
Former junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara and ten other members of his military regime are being tried for acts related to the 28 September 2009 massacre at the Conakry Stadium.
According to the report of an international commission of enquiry mandated by the United Nations, no less than 157 people were killed, hundreds injured and nearly 109 women raped after an opposition rally aimed at dissuading Captain Dadis Camara from running in the January 2010 presidential election.
“This is a first in our country. And the president (Ibrahima Sory 2 Tounkara) is distinguished by the serenity of his conduct of the proceedings. The defence tried several times to destabilise him but he remained serene and professional. I think he deserves the position of president at this trial. We expect this to continue throughout the trial and we hope that it will happen and that this trial will be a success for the country,” Alpha Amadou Bah, one of the prosecuting lawyers told APA.
However, at this stage of the trial, some of his fellow lawyers, such as Antoine Pépé Lamah and Salifou Béavogui, do not see Judge Ibrahima Sory 2 Tounkara in a positive light.
In recent weeks, some of them have dismissed his attitude as partisan.
“We have noticed that the president is very calm and patient when it is the prosecution that intervenes and lets many irregularities pass. If it is the civil party that intervenes, he takes his time to listen. But as soon as the defence starts to intervene, they are interjections such as ‘Counsel, is this related to the case? Counsel, where does this question take us? Counsel, ask the questions?, Counsel, you think you are superior. You are discourteous, I’m taking the floor from you. This is all kinds of threats; we will not accept it…Our clients also have rights,” Mr Salifou Béavogui was quoted in the Guinean press as saying against Judge Tounkara.
SKD/odl/te/lb/as/APA