Guinea‘s former junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara has been found guilty of crimes against humanity in a 2009 stadium massacre.
He has been subsequently jailed for 20 years, despite denying the charges and pleading not guilty.
A court in Guinea on Wednesday found him and seven other accused military commanders guilty of crimes against humanity.
“This is a widespread and systematic attack by armed men against a civilian population,” the judge said while reading the verdict.
Families of those who were killed are to receive 2 billion Guinean francs ($233,890) for each victim while rape and torture victims will receive 1 billion Guinean francs each.
Camara, 60, seized power in a coup after long-time President Lansana Conté died in 2008. He subsequently fled the country after surviving an assassination attempt.
That was shortly more than 150 people were killed during a pro-democracy rally on Sept. 28, 2009.
Tens of thousands of people had gathered at a stadium in Conakry to demand that Camara doesn’t stand in a presidential election the following year.
Many were shot, stabbed, beaten or crushed in a stampede as security forces fired teargas and charged the stadium.
Prosecutors said during the trial that at least a dozen women were raped by security forces.
Camara returned from exile in Burkina Faso in September 2022 to face trial.
Source: Africafeeds.com
