DATE=9/12/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=GUINEA - TRIAL (L-ONLY)CQ
NUMBER=2-266396
BYLINE=LUIS RAMIREZ
DATELINE=ABIDJAN
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
//Editors- Re-issuing to put the correct number
on this CR, 2-266396, not 2-255394//
INTRO: A court in Guinea has sentenced a leading
opposition figure to five years in prison. V-O-
A's Luis Ramirez at our West Africa bureau
reports the sentencing follows a recent series of
rebel attacks along Guinea's border with Liberia
and Sierra Leone.
TEXT: Opposition politician, Alpha Conde, was
found guilty of threatening the security of
Guinea and illegally deploying armed forces. More
than 40 people were also accused in the case.
Most of them were acquitted.
The verdict against Mr. Conde comes as the
government cracks down on those it suspects of
launching attacks on Guinean forces from
neighboring Sierra Leone and Liberia. The
assaults in recent weeks have killed about 80
people.
On Saturday, Guinean President Lansana Conte
accused Mr. Conde's supporters of using
foreigners in an attempt to topple his
government. The Guinean leader called for a
mobilization of citizens and soldiers against
those he says are responsible for the assaults
along the border.
Authorities in the Guinean capital, Conakry, in
recent days have been rounding up members of
Guinea's large Sierra Leonean and Liberian
population and checking their identification.
Alpha Conde, who had been on trial since April,
has been in jail since December of 1998, when he
was arrested during presidential elections in
which he was running against Lansana Conte.
The opposition leader has been at the forefront
of a campaign to install a multi-party system in
Guinea following the 1984 coup that brought
Lansana Conte to power. (SIGNED)
NEB/LR/GE
12-Sep-2000 11:00 AM EDT (12-Sep-2000 1500 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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