Former president of Guinea breaks out of jail, say authorities

There have been reports of heavy gunfire in the city, but former Guinean President Moussa Camara is claimed to have been saved by his loyalists.

According to local authorities, a gang of armed men who have not been named have broken into the capital jail of Guinea, liberating Moussa Dadis Camara, the former president and mastermind of the coup. Witnesses and the media have reported hearing gunfire around the region.

Justice Minister Charles Alphonse Wright verified the information on Saturday, telling the local radio station Fim FM that Claude Pivi and Blaise Goumou were among the other escapees, in addition to Camara, the former leader of the West African country and former French colony from 2008 to 2010.

The two men and Camara were taken into custody in relation to a massacre that occurred at a Conakry stadium almost ten years ago.

“We’ll track them down. The minister declared, “And those responsible will be held accountable,” saying that the authorities had sealed the nation’s borders and that Moussa Tiegboro Camara, the fourth fugitive, had already been apprehended.

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The sound of heavy automatic gunfire was captured on multiple unconfirmed social media videos in the capital of Guinea; one of the videos also indicates a significant security force presence in the area. AFP spoke with a number of witnesses who claimed that Conakry’s centre had been cordoned off.

According to Jeune Afrique, the son of Claude Pivi, a former member of Guinea’s special forces, headed the commando squad that assaulted the prison. The force was made up of four pick-up trucks.

Following President Lansana Conte’s death in late 2008, Camara took over in a coup. He was tried alongside a number of other former Guinean authorities for the September 28, 2009, massacre at a stadium in Conakry that claimed the lives of over 150 people. Furthermore, it is believed that Camara’s army perpetrated widespread atrocities against people. Following the catastrophe, Camara fled to the neighbouring country of Burkina Faso after being gravely hurt in an attempted assassination.

In 2021, he made his way back to Guinea after a coup that year. But Camara was arrested in September of last year; he faces life in jail together with his co-defendants on charges of murder, sexual assault, torture, abduction, and kidnapping.