Seventeen police officers sustained serious degrees of injuries, after violent demonstrations in Conakry on Tuesday and Wednesday that was following the arrests of three leaders of an influential political and civil society coalition.
Clashes broke between police and youth groups in suburban areas of the capital to protest against the arrest of members of the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC), a coalition that had orchestrated months of mobilization from 2019 to 2021 against former President Alpha Condé (2010-2021), who was overthrown in September 2021 by a junta led by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya.
A group of demonstrators burned tyres, erected barricades, overturned bins and pelted the police, who tried to disperse them with tear gas.
The FNDC had called for demonstrations on 23 June, ignoring the ban imposed by the junta. It had suspended its call the day before the demonstration to give a chance to the dialogue proposed by the transitional government.
At least 15 protesters have been killed during the weeks of bloody clashes with security forces, with dozens injured. One police officer was killed, but have not given an updated number of casualties.
The FNDC coalition had been vocal against former president Alpha Conde, who was overthrown in September last year by a military junta.
After the last meeting with the government, the FNDC denounced a parody of a meeting, as well as the solitary and authoritarian conduct of the transition and the serious attacks on fundamental rights and freedoms.
On Tuesday police arrested three FNDC leaders: Mamadou Billo Bah, rapper Alpha Midiaou Bah also known as Djanii Alfa, and the coalition’s national coordinator Oumar Sylla.
Supporters complained that Sylla and Bah were beaten and had their clothes torn by police officers during the press conference. They were still in police custody on Thursday, awaiting to be brought before a judge.
A large part of the political class condemned the arrest of the three men and expressed indignation at the method. AFP reported that an uneasy calm had returned on Thursday to the capital.
