Guinea: 322 arrested over protests

2011-09-29 14:22

Conakry - Guinea security forces arrested 322 people following deadly protests in the capital this week, the government said.

At least two people have been killed in the clashes in the West African state, ramping up tensions before a parliamentary poll due by the end of the year.

Guinea Attorney General William Fernandez said 322 people had been detained following the protests on Tuesday and Wednesday and would face charges ranging from disregarding a ban on public gatherings to homicide.

Trials will begin on September 30, he said late on Wednesday on state television.

The clashes in the ragged coastal capital Conakry erupted after main opposition party UFDG organised a rally to protest against preparations for the election.

UFDG leader Cellou Dalein Diallo has accused President Alpha Conde of seeking to rig the election in advance by tampering with voter rolls and by installing a close ally as the head of the national election commission.

Demonstrators throwing rocks, burning tyres, and barricading roads clashed with security forces wielding truncheons and firing tear gas grenades. Medical and police sources said three people were killed in the clashes on Tuesday. Guinea's government confirmed two deaths.

Guinea held its first free election late last year bringing Conde to power, a move that was meant to close the book on decades of instability and pave the way for increased investment in its mining sector.

Human rights group Amnesty International called on Wednesday for an investigation into the deaths and accused Conde of using the "the same brutal methods as his predecessors".

- Reuters