PREVIEW
Conakry governor hints at security crackdown if demonstrators defy ban on political gatherings
Civil society groups are mobilising citizens to defy a ban on political protests and take part in a three-day protest starting on 30 July to demand the release of two pro-democracy activists.
Two members, including its leader Oumar Sylla, of the Front national pour la défense de la constitution (FNDC), a movement that was officially banned by the junta two years ago, were arrested by the security forces in Conakry on 9 July. (AC Vol 63 No 11, Honeymoon over as junta extends rule). Their whereabouts are still unknown.
However, the state has hinted at a major security crackdown in Conakry to nullify any demonstrations. Conakry governor M’Mahawa Sylla said that the May 2022 ban on protests remains in place ‘due to the existing risk of serious disturbances to public order’.
Protest organisers have urged participants to gather each day at the Tannerie Roundabout and then march to the Stade du 28 Septembre.
A Paris court is due to consider a legal complaint against junta leader Colonel Mamady Doumbouya over the disappearance of Sylla and Mamadou Billo Bah filed by their wives.
The FNDC previously organised street protests against former President Alpha Condé after he changed the constitution to stand for a third term. It has described the junta as ‘illegal and illegitimate’, though two of its members were co-opted into government in late 2021 (AC Vol 62 No 23, Conakry gets its new class).
The Economic Community of West African States has given the junta a December 2024 deadline to return the country to democracy. However, the junta has insisted that it will remain in power until mid-2025 and has given no definitive timetable for the return of democratic elections.
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