CONAKRY: Lawyers for former Guinean dictator Moussa Dadis Camara said on Thursday they would appeal his conviction for crimes against humanity for mass killings and rape at a 2009 political rally.
The court on Wednesday found 59-year-old Dadis Camara guilty and sentenced him to 20 years behind bars after a landmark trial.
“The collective rejects this decision in its entirety and, as a sign of its disapproval, intends … to appeal against this unjust sentence to be condemned by the Court of Appeal,” his legal team said in a statement.
She said that during the almost two-year trial, Dadis Camara was never “heard or asked to explain the elements constituting the crime against humanity”.
The former head of Dadis Camara’s protection unit, Aboubacar Sidiki Diakite, who was also sentenced to 10 years, will appeal, his lawyer Lancine Sylla said in a statement on Thursday.
Just before Dadis Camara’s sentencing, a court in the capital Conakry announced that the charges would be classified as crimes against humanity.
The verdict marked “the end of a 15-year struggle to find truth and justice for the victims,” said the president of victims’ association AVIPA.
“Our fight will not end here, we will continue to work to ensure that every victim receives reparations and that such events never happen again in Guinea,” she said.
According to a UN-mandated commission of inquiry, at least 156 people were killed, hundreds more injured and 109 women raped.
According to families and human rights organizations, only 57 bodies have been found.
The former head of the junta was found guilty “on the basis of the responsibility of the higher hierarchy”, the president of the court said.
He was also convicted of planning to suppress the demonstration and failing to punish those who carried it out.
Seven other defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment for the massacre.
“The judgment is a watershed moment in establishing the truth about the events of September 28, 2009 and bringing to justice those who bear the greatest responsibility for the atrocities committed,” the ICC said in a statement.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk said it was vital to continue the fight against impunity in Guinea and work to establish the “full facts and accountability” surrounding the incident.
