(Conakry) Some 16 inmates from Conakry prison in Guinea were released on Tuesday after spending between 15 and 16 years in detention without trial, Justice Minister Yaya Kaïraba Kaba announced.
They had been imprisoned for all these years for “various offences”, said the minister who came to witness their release without giving further details, but did not mention any possible compensation.
Somewhere, it must be said, there were malfunctions in the judicial system. Files have disappeared, defendants are there, what to do? This is how, in the interest of respecting human rights, it was decided at the level of the cabinet and with the Attorney General at the Court of Appeal of Conakry to look into this situation and find a solution.
Yaya Kaïraba Kaba, Minister of Justice
“The criminal judge of the lower court ruled through an order for the release of these 16 people. It is precisely in execution of this order of the magistrate that, this morning, we decided to come and proceed solemnly,” he added.
This type of operation will be extended to the rest of the national territory, he then specified.
Since the files of most of those released have been lost, it will be difficult to locate all the parties involved, but “if there are civil parties who have claims, they will come forward and the judges will perch on that,” the minister assured.