2009 massacre: Guinea Ex-dictator Camara Denies Role In Court

Former Guinean dictator Moussa Dadis Camara took the stand Monday in a trial of officials accused of a 2009 massacre and denied culpability.

Camara and ten other former military and government officials are charged of killing 156 people and raping at least 109 women at a political rally in a Conakry stadium in September 2009 by forces supporting the military regime.

They face charges ranging from murder to sexual violence, kidnappings, arson and looting. Camara himself is charged with “personal criminal responsibility and command responsibility”.

Reports also show that women were specifically targeted by Guinean soldiers. Witnesses said that four women were shot dead after being sexually assaulted.

Presiding Judge Ibrahima Sory Tounkara reminded Camara of the charges the court had brought against him.

“And to the question of whether you recognise them, you replied in the negative,” Tounkara said.

“Absolutely,” Camara replied before launching into a long monologue evoking philosophers Heraclitus and Immanuel Kant along with the Egyptian pharaohs.

Camara’s deposition was a crucial moment that survivors and victims’ families had been anticipating since the trial began on September 28, 13 years to the day after the massacre.

Camara’s testimony in the trial was postponed until today after he said he was too sick to testify a week ago.

Camara’s lawyer stated that his client had been suffering from malaria for weeks and that he had the “absolute right” to rest.

The counsel for Aboubacar Sidiki Diakite, Camara’s former aide-de-camp accused of plotting the massacre, accused Guinea’s ex-leader of faking his illness.

Camara gained office in December 2008, shortly after the death of Guinea’s second post-independence president, General Lansana Conte, who had ruled for 24 years.