Daily Times

A Guinea court will on Wednesday give a verdict in the trial of ex-dictator Moussa Dadis Camara over a 2009 massacre in a stadium in which more than 150 people were killed and scores of women raped.

On September 28, 2009, and in the days that followed, members of Camara’s presidential guard, soldiers, police and militia cracked down on an opposition rally at a stadium in the suburbs of the capital Conakry.

At least 156 people were killed, 109 women were raped and hundreds wounded, according to a UN-mandated commission of inquiry, in one of the darkest chapters in the West African nation’s history.

Victims have been waiting years for justice, doubting a trial would ever take place. It was finally brought before a court under a junta which seized power in 2021.

Along with 11 other government and military officials, Dadis Camara is charged with murder, sexual violence, torture, abduction and kidnapping.

Dadis Camara always denied any responsibility, blaming his subordinates.

The leader’s landmark trial — which began on September 28, 2022 — has gripped the West African country, the drama from the courtroom beamed to the nation’s televisions and radios.

Judges heard from 11 defendants as well as a dozen witnesses. Some 100 victims provided chilling testimonies.

Alfa Amadou DS Bah, a lawyer for the civil claimants, told AFP he had urged the state to protect the victims and their families after the verdict. “I hope that the accused will be convicted of crimes against humanity and that substantial reparations will be granted to the victims so that they can turn this dark page in their lives,” he said.