Guinean authorities on Wednesday announced a reward for the apprehension of the final fugitive still at large following a jailbreak last week, during which armed individuals liberated former dictator Moussa Dadis Camara from prison.
Heavily armed commandos stormed the prison in the capital Conakry early Saturday, seizing Camara and three former senior officials facing trial alongside him for a 2009 massacre during his presidency—a grim chapter in Guinean history.
Nine people died in the raid, according to a provisional toll.
The circumstances surrounding the group’s departure from the prison remain uncertain, as their legal representatives have indicated uncertainty about whether they left voluntarily or were forcibly removed.
Camara and two of the others were recaptured later Saturday.
Guinean authorities are now offering a reward exceeding 54,000 euros ($58,000) for the reapprehension of the final escapee, Colonel Claude Pivi.
Camara, who seized power in a coup in December 2008, and his co-defendants face charges of murder, sexual violence, torture, abduction, and kidnapping.
The trial marks an unprecedented event in a nation that has been governed for decades by authoritarian regimes, where the population had grown accustomed to the security forces enjoying impunity.
Camara, who seized control in a coup in December 2008, and his co-defendants face charges encompassing murder, sexual violence, torture, abduction, and kidnapping.
The trial represents an unprecedented occurrence in a nation governed for decades by authoritarian regimes, where the populace had grown accustomed to the security forces operating with impunity.
Justice Minister Alphonse Charles Wright stated on Wednesday that Pivi, who served as a minister during Camara’s rule in 2008 and 2009, is still “actively sought both nationally and internationally.”
Authorities are providing a reward of 500 million Guinean francs (54,100 euros) “to anyone who helps or facilitates (his) arrest”, he added.
Since September 2022, Camara, Pivi, and nine other former officials have been undergoing trial for a range of offenses, including murders, acts of torture, rapes, and other abductions that occurred on September 28, 2009, and the subsequent days. These atrocities were carried out by security forces in and around a stadium on the outskirts of Conakry, where tens of thousands of opposition supporters had congregated.