Conakry – Guinean opposition leader Aliou Bah saw his court appeal adjourned for a third time on Wednesday after he was convicted of insulting the leader of the ruling junta, an aide said.
The hearing followed the disappearance of several opponents of the military government which has imposed severe restrictions on freedoms in the West African state.
Bah, leader of the Liberal Democratic Movement, was sentenced in January to two years in jail for “insulting and defaming” General Mamadi Doumbouya, who overthrew President Alpha Conde in September 2021.
Defence lawyers shunned the hearing “for security reasons,” according to defence attorney Antoine Pepe Lamah. Neither media nor diplomats were permitted in the courtroom.
🚨En images. Aliou Bah retourne en prison. https://t.co/t8kz6ZofZj✍🏽 pic.twitter.com/wEcIcljDrU
— Africaguinee.com (@Africaguinee) April 16, 2025
Bah’s senior aide Aliou Sow later told AFP that the defendant had told him the hearing had been adjourned.
A judge who asked not to be named said the hearing was postponed because the defence lawyers had left.
Another of Bah’s lawyers, Galissa Hady Diallo, said they left the court because they felt unsafe there in the presence of “young people” unrelated to the trial who had been “brought in” to the court.
Bah’s defence team said he had been accused of urging Guinean religious leaders to speak out against the junta and of having described the ruling body as “incompetent”.
The government has been accused of repressing freedom and banning anti-military rallies, while several media outlets have been closed.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Picture: X/@AkimBha3
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
Source: AFP
