Guinea’s ousted ex-president returns after treatment abroad
CONAKRY - Guinea’s ousted ex-president Alpha Conde returned to the country Friday after a trip to the United Arab Emirates for medical treatment, the ruling junta said.
Conde “returned to Conakry this afternoon after medical treatment in the United Arab Emirates”, according to a junta statement read on television.
Guinean authorities posted photos on social media of Conde, which they said showed him getting off a plane upon his arrival in Conakry.
Conde became Guinea’s first democratically-elected president in 2010.
But the 84-year-old was deposed by army officers last year, and replaced by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya.
The coup followed fierce protests over Conde’s successful bid for a third term in office - a plan critics said breached the constitution.
He was then allowed to leave Guinea for the UAE in January. His release was one of the demands made by the West Africa bloc ECOWAS after the coup.
The junta was reportedly reluctant to let him go abroad for fear of potential plots against their newly-established rule.
“The former president will remain in Guinea as long as his health permits. His integrity and dignity will always be respected in accordance with his rank and status,” the National Rallying Committee for Development (CNRD), the junta’s governing body, said in Friday’s statement.
But Conde’s Rally of the People of Guinea (RPG) party condemned the junta for “arbitrary actions” against him and his former administration.
On Saturday, the RPG said in a statement that it would continue “to work for the full release” of Conde, and would submit a request for a visit in the coming days.
However, the influential FNDC coalition, which staged huge protests against Conde before he was overthrown, issued their own statement, calling on the judiciary to “do everything possible to open, without delay, the trial” for violent crimes committed by him and his henchmen.
On Wednesday, former Guinean prime minister Kassory Fofana and three ex-ministers who served under Conde were detained on embezzlement charges,in the latest probe targeting prominent figures since last year’s military coup.