APA – Conakry (Guinea)
By Aboubacar Siddy Diallo
According to the United Nations, nearly 200 people died in the September 28, 2009 killing of demonstrators, while approximately 100 women were raped.
After the parade of the eleven defendants of the massacre, it was time for the civil party to speak.
The older brother of a 28-year-old boy who died in those tragic circumstances, lawyer Oury Bailo Bah, opened the proceedings on Tuesday, February 14.
Describing the circumstances of the death of his younger brother El Hadj Hassane Bah, whose body has not been found, the plaintiff said that the latter had gone out on September 28 to attend a family ceremony.
According to Mr. Bah’s statement, it was on his way that his brother joined the demonstrators.
He claimed to have been in contact with him on the telephone, well before the demonstrators entered the September 28 stadium in Conakry.
“At around 11:00 a.m., he called to tell me that the red berets had entered the stadium and had started shooting. Later, I called him, the phone was ringing, but there was no answer,” he recounted.
It was only around 6 p.m. that he heard about his brother’s death.
If the death of his brother is a tragedy for him and his family, the disappearance of his body is another torment for them.
“We lost a brother, but we haven’t found his body. We are unable to mourn his death. I would like someone to tell us where my brother El Hadji Hassane Bah is,” he begs, nearly 14 years later.
Following the massacre, several witnesses accused the former Minister of Health, Colonel Abdoulaye Cherif Diaby, of preventing the families of the victims from accessing the remains of their loved ones.
In his testimony, Mr. Oumar Bailo Bah said that the former minister did not make it easy for them.
Responding to a question from the defense, he said he was categorically denied by the managers of the Donka hospital morgue while he was looking for the body of his brother.
The instruction was given by Colonel Diaby.
“The Minister of Health came with men to the morgue. They chased away the people who came to look for their relatives. But when they arrived there, it was a stampede. I saw that it was following his order that the relatives were denied access to the bodies. The order was given to the military to chase everyone away. I did not see him insulting anyone,” added Oury Bailo Bah.
At the end of the proceedings, during which all parties to the trial asked questions of the witness, the president adjourned the hearing to Wednesday, February 15.
According to an independent United Nations investigation, the September 28, 2009, demonstrations, which followed the ambition of then junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara to run for office at the end of the transitional period, left 157 people dead and about 100 women raped.
In addition to Dadis Camara and his former aide-de-camp, Aboubacar Sidiki Diakite, known as Toumba, nine other defendants are being prosecuted for “murder, assassination, rape, looting, arson, armed robbery, assault, torture, kidnapping, sexual violence, and indecent assault”.
They have rejected these charges during while giving testimonies.
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