Former President of Guinea, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara has out rightly denied being the mastermind of the 2009 massacre that happened in the nation.
The former dictator and 10 other former military and government officials are accused over the killing of 156 people and the rape of at least 109 women by pro-junta forces at a political rally in a Conakry stadium in September 2009.
The embattled men face charges ranging from murder to sexual violence, kidnappings, arson and looting. Specifically, Camara is charged with “personal criminal responsibility and command responsibility”.
In a recent court appearance, presiding judge Ibrahima Sory Tounkara reminded Camara of the charges the court had brought against him.
Tounkara said “And to the question to know whether you recognise them, you replied in the negative”.
“Absolutely,” Camara replied before launching into a long monologue evoking philosophers Heraclitus and Immanuel Kant along with the Egyptian pharaohs.
According to local reports, Captain Moussa’s deposition was a key moment survivors and relatives of the victims had been waiting for at the trial that opened September 28, 13 years to the day after the massacre.
The lawyer for Aboubacar Sidiki Diakite, a former aide de camp to Camara who has accused him of preparing the massacre, accused Guinea’s ex-leader of faking his illness.
In his summation, one of Camara’s lawyers said his client had been suffering from an exhausting bout of malaria for weeks and that he had the “absolute right” to rest.
It could be recalled that Camara seized power in December 2008 shortly after the death of Guinea’s second post-independence president, General Lansana Conte, who had ruled for 24 years.
Also recall that in December 2009, the embattled Camara was wounded in the head in an attempted assassination and headed to Morocco for medical treatment.
Camara fled into exile in Burkina Faso, where he was indicted in July 2015 by Guinean magistrates for his alleged role in the stadium massacre.
He was detained on September 27, a day before the long-awaited trial began in a purpose-built court in the capital Conakry.
Camara served as the President of Guinea from 23 December 2008 to 15 January 2010. He was the leader of the National Council for Democracy and Development.
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