Guinea's former Constitutional Court president sentenced to seven years

A court in Guinea has sentenced the country's former Constitutional Court president, Mohamed Lamine Bangoura, to seven years in prison, Africanews reported on 22 October.

The ruling came from CRIEF, a special court for economic and financial crimes that Guinea's military leaders set up shortly after the 2021 coup. Mr Bangoura was found guilty of illicit enrichment, corruption, embezzlement of more than $20 million in public funds, and money laundering. The charges relate to how money allocated to the Constitutional Court was managed while he led it.

Besides the prison term, the court imposed a five-year ban on holding public office and ordered the confiscation of his assets in Guinea and neighbouring Senegal. He must also pay a heavy fine and damages to the state, jointly with two co-defendants described as fugitives. Mr Bangoura has been in detention since December 2022, contested the charges, and his lawyers asked for an acquittal.

According to Africanews, he is one of about 180 senior officials and former ministers from the government of ex-president Alpha Conde who have been targeted by the court. Mr Conde was overthrown in 2021 by Mamady Doumbouya, who later won an election last year in which there was little meaningful opposition.

Guinea's opposition alleges that the judicial system is being used as a political weapon under Mr Doumbouya. The article does not give a response from the authorities to that claim.