Thirteen opposition leaders freed

The Guinea government yesterday freed 13 opposition politicians, four of them parliamentarians, after they served close to three of the four months in prison to which they had been sentenced for threatening public order, an opposition politician told IRIN today. “This will not reduce the political tension so long as (RPG leader Alpha) Conde remains in prison,” Sekou Coumbassa, a member of the Central Committee of the Rassemblement du peuple de Guinee (RPG) said. The freed politicians, all RPG members, were arrested on 16 December after demonstrations against Conde’s detention. Conde, who ran and lost the presidential election of 14 December against incumbent Lansana Conte, has been on a hunger strike since the beginning of March in protest against his detention. Coumbassa said the court reduced the sentence of the politicians, who served two months and three weeks in prison. However, it remains unclear whether or not they were freed early because of international appeals, which have also been made for Conde’s release. Coumbassa said the politicians’ release, coming two days before a parliamentary commission was due to present a resolution demanding the politicians’ freedom and that of Conde, was meant to isolate Conde who is accused of recruiting mercenaries to overthrow the government. “If the resolution is not passed, the RPG will not occupy its seats in parliament and will ask other opposition parties to do likewise,” Coumbassa told IRIN.