Guinea prosecutor seeks five-year jail term for former PM

A prosecutor in junta-led Guinea on Monday requested a five-year prison sentence for a former prime minister on trial for embezzlement, corruption and money laundering, an AFP journalist saw.

Ibrahima Kassory Fofana headed the government under civilian president Alpha Conde from May 2018 until the military seized power in a September 2021 coup.

He has been in prison since April 2022.

Fofana is the latest of many former leaders, opposition figures and civil society members to be detained or brought before the courts under the junta.

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Aminata Kaba, the prosecutor at a special court for financial crimes (CRIEF) also called for a fine of five billion Guinean francs ($578,000) and the seizure of Fofana’s assets, including three bank accounts.

Fofana is accused of having embezzled 15 billion Guinean francs earmarked for anti-Covid measures and economic and social programmes under president Conde.

The verdict has been deferred until February 13.

Guinea’s military leaders set up the special anti-graft court shortly after taking power and have promised to prioritise combatting endemic corruption in the impoverished west African state.

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In November 2022, the junta ordered prosecutors to take legal action against former president Conde and more than 180 other officials and ex-ministers for alleged corruption.

The CRIEF in December sentenced Mohamed Diane, a highly influential defence minister under Conde, to five years in prison for embezzlement, illicit enrichment, money laundering and the corruption of public officials.

Though junta chief General Mamady Doumbouya has insisted there would be no “witch hunts”, the opposition has denounced the repression of freedoms and the manipulation of the justice system.