APA-Conakry (Guinea) An unofficial death toll of seven was established by the ‘Forces Vives
de Guinée’, while appeasement measures were made on Wednesday evening.
On the call of the ‘Forces vives de la nation’, a group of civil society organisations and political parties, Guineans ook to the streets of Conakry and other cities on Wednesday.
The first clashes were reported on the Le Prince highway in the northern suburbs of Conakry.
For the time being, it is difficult to establish a balance sheet, but according to the organisers of the
demonstration, which was supposed to start at the Tannerie traffic circle, the crackdown cost the lives of seven people and 32 people were injured by bullets, 13 of them seriously.
The government has neither confirmed nor denied this figure.
According to the Forces Vives, these victims were rein Ratoma, one of the five districts of Conakry, the capital. The organizers of the march also claim to have recorded 56 arrests and denounce the use by counter-demonstrators, supported by the security forces deployed in some places where clashes were witnessed, of brandished weapons, including machetes and other instruments of war.
According to the Forces Vives, in some neighbourhoods adjacent to the Le Prince highway, punitive expeditions and home invasions in Sonfonia, Wanindara, Bomboli, Bantounka 1, Hamdallaye, Bailobayah, Transversale number 10 (T10) and other regions of the country were recorded.
Appeasement measures?
Following this very eventful day in the Guinean capital, civil society activists who had been imprisoned for nearly 10 months regained their freedom. This is following the mediation by clerics and in accordance
with the government’s commitments.
Oumar Sylla alias Fonike Mangue, the national coordinator of the National Front for the Defense of the Constitution (FNDC), Ibrahima Diallo and Mamadou Billo Bah were released late Wednesday evening.
They confirmed their release via social media platforms.
However, the Forces Vives, of which the FNDC is an integral part, has announced in another statement that the demonstrations would continue on Thursday, May 11, in accordance with their agenda.
ASD/ac/fss/as/APA