Guinean ex-dictator Moussa Dadis Camara’s defence team pleaded for his acquittal Monday over a 2009 massacre, insisting he had nothing to do with one of the darkest moments in the nation’s history.
Along with 11 other government and military officials, Dadis Camara is charged with numerous cases of murder, sexual violence, torture, abduction and kidnapping.
Guinean prosecutors had in late May requested life imprisonment for him and six other defendants, saying they were guilty of crimes against humanity for the massacre.
On September 28, 2009, and in the following days, members of the presidential guard, soldiers, police and militiamen brutally cracked down on an opposition rally at a stadium in the suburbs of the capital Conakry.
At least 156 people were killed, 109 women were raped and hundreds of people injured, according to a UN-mandated commission of inquiry. The actual figures are thought to be higher.
Dadis Camara’s landmark trial has gripped the West African country, with drama from the courtroom beamed to the nation’s televisions and radios.
Dadis Camara has blamed the massacre on subordinates who he said acted beyond his control and denies any responsibility.
“I beg you to acquit Captain Dadis. He must go home, he did nothing,” the former dictator’s lawyer Almamy Samory Traore told the court.
Dadis Camara “did everything in his power to prevent this from happening,” Traore argued in the plea, calling the massacre “an accident designed to sully” the ex-dictator’s image.
Guinea’s chief prosecutor, Alghassimou Diallo, had on May 22 denied the defendants any mitigating circumstances, arguing they showed a lack of regret since the landmark trial began in September 2022.
The defence disagreed, asserting that the ex-president had expressed his compassion on several occasions during the hearings.
“It’s not justice that these civil plaintiffs are seeking, it’s the conviction of a former head of state,” Traore said.
The defence case is expected to last several days before the judges give their verdict at a date that is yet to be determined.
