Guinea’s junta seeks to prosecute ex-president Condé, ex-ministers on corruption charges

Guinea’s justice minister on Thursday (3 October) ordered legal proceedings against former President Alpha Conde and more than 180 officials from his deposed regime for alleged corruption and embezzlement of public funds.
The military junta, which overthrew the 84-year-old Conde in a coup last year, is now running the West African country and has proposed to hold elections after a 24-month transition period, but has not confirmed when that would start. In a letter to two attorney generals, Guinea’s Justice Minister Charles Wright requested that legal proceedings be initiated against Conde and around 180 former officials for “corruption, embezzlement of public funds, illicit enrichment, money laundering, forgery and complicity.“ Some opponents of the junta say it is going after Conde’s old allies to prevent them from running in the next elections.
Conde is officially in Turkey for medical treatment, but his exact whereabouts are unknown, while some officials on the list have already been detained by the junta for months on similar accusations. Several people on the list are dead, and some names are listed twice. The junta had ordered legal proceedings against Conde and 26 of his former officials in May over deadly violence surrounding Conde’s disputed bid for a third term in 2020.