The city of Guinea has come to a standstill due to protests against the military government’s handling of efforts to return to democracy; organizers claim one person was killed.
According to the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC), numerous people were hurt during the protests on Thursday, and one person lost their life after being shot in the Conakry district of Hamdallaye.
The protests last week were organized by the FNDC, a significant political grouping, to protest the military’s “unilateral administration” of the transition back to civilian authority after it had seized power in 2021. Both the National Alliance for Change and Democracy, a combination of parties and groups, and the former government Rally for the Guinean People urged its followers to participate in the protests.
The rally had previously been forbidden by the authorities, who have not yet confirmed the fatality.
On Thursday, the public prosecutor commanded that the organizers be subject to immediate legal prosecution.
The military authorities have been charged by the FNDC with “systematically refusing” to start a “serious discourse” to determine the transition’s conditions.
After orchestrating the coup against President Alpha Conde, whose effort to retain power for a third term prompted popular outrage, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya was sworn in as interim president last October. Doumbouya stated that the goal of his government was to “refound the state” through the creation of a new constitution, the eradication of corruption, electoral system reform, and the holding of “free, credible, and transparent” elections.
Umaro Sissoco Embalo, the head of the ECOWAS regional organization, claimed to have just persuaded the military to speed up the return to democracy on Thursday.
At a press conference in Bissau, Embalo and French President Emmanuel Macron said, “I was in Conakry with the president of the commission [of ECOWAS] to make the military junta realize the decision of the summit of chiefs of state that the transition cannot exceed 24 months.”
They had requested 36 months, but we were able to persuade them, he continued.
A spokesperson for the transitional government in Guinea, Ousmane Gaoual Diallo, however, informed the AFP news agency that “neither the government nor the presidency corroborate this information about the duration of the transition in Guinea.”
Young protesters and police engaged in combat on Thursday morning in numerous sections of the capital thought to be opposition strongholds, according to an AFP correspondent.
Police used tear gas to disperse small groups throwing stones as protesters built barricades and burnt tires.
The majority of the city center was still peaceful, but all activity ceased.
By midday, the Boulevard du Commerce, a busy street that is frequently crowded, was nearly empty.
Ibrahima Diallo, the chief of operations for the FNDC, told AFP, “We are thrilled with the success of our appeal to demonstrate – it was ideal.”
“Everywhere in the city is calm, and the administration is paralyzed. It has been a huge success for us.”
Any public protests that can be seen as endangering public order were outlawed by the military authorities in May.
The FNDC had scheduled protests for June 23 but then cancelled them, signaling that they were ready to start talking and give the transitional government a “opportunity.”
But after a meeting with the authorities that the FNDC denounced as a “parody,” they lost their patience.
The group denounced the transition’s “solitary and authoritarian attitude” and its “severe infringement on fundamental rights and freedoms.”
On July 5, three FNDC leaders were detained, sparking some of the first violent protests since the coup.
All three were given their freedom after being found not guilty of violating the court’s order by posting criticisms of the prosecutor’s office and the military-appointed parliament on social media.
