Guinea: two years in prison asked against General Nouhou Thiam

The military prosecution requested Thursday two years imprisonment against General Nouhou Thiam, former Chief of General Staff of the Armed under the Transition (December 2008 – December 2010) and five other defendants at their trial on appeal in Conakry .
They had all been arrested following the attack on July 19, 2011 against the private residence of President Alpha Condé, only to be accused of desertion made to the first and violation of the instructions for the other five.
The charges against them are established, according to the military prosecutor, Colonel Kaba Dumbuya. Citing Article 546 of the Penal Code, it found that the offense of desertion is “established from absence from work for seven days.” A term that would be of “about eight months” for Nouhou Thiam, that is to say, since the latter has lost its position of Chief of General Staff of the Armed. “Restructuring, mutations should not be a source of frustration,” recalled the military prosecutor.
Colonel Sadio Diallo, Lieutenant Colonel Bondabon Mamadouba Camara, former prefect of Dubréka (near Conakry) and the three other defendants are also in the opinion of the prosecutor, authors of “violation of regulations”, an offense punishable by Article 601 of the Guinean Penal Code. They would not have presented the camp on the day of the attack the presidential residence, “preferring to stay at home or do other occupations.”
The defense argued the acquittal
In oral argument, counsel for the plaintiff had previously abounded in the same direction. The defense lawyers called for the acquittal of their clients they consider settling of casualties. “We are dealing with innocent people who were stuck offenses on the fly,” stated Mr. Aboubacar Sylla, before recalling that his clients “had already received a dismissal but some felt they deserved not freedom. ” One of them wonder “how General Nouhou Thiam Can deserting while residing in the camp? ”
Arrested since July 2011, the defendants were held for more than four years. The military prosecutors and lawyers for the civil party justified this long detention by the need to respect the law which provides that the object of offenses proceedings against soldiers to be tried by the Military Court. A court whose members were appointed in 2015.