Will former Central African President François Bozizé, who has lived in exile in Guinea-Bissau since March 2023, be extradited as the authorities of his country wish? The answer is no. Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo reaffirmed that François Bozizé will not be extradited to his country “because there is no agreement” between the Central African Republic and Guinea Bissau.
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François Bozizé is targeted by a international arrest warrant issued by the Special Criminal Court, a hybrid jurisdiction (local judges, international judges) supported by the UN for possible crimes against humanity. Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo spoke to the press on this subject on Tuesday May 7, before taking the plane to Moscow. His remarks were collected by our correspondent in Bissau, Allen Yero Embalo.
“ We do not extradite exiles. Besides, there is no no agreement between our two countries in this sense.
I received François Bozizé in a purely humanitarian context. And as long as I am the head of this country, he will not be extradited. Unless he wants to leave of his own free will. THE President Touadéra he himself knows it. I’m sorry to say that’s not what he and I said about it. We talked about other things that have nothing to do with the extradition of Bozizé.
For his reception in Guinea-Bissau, we had set conditions: he must refrain from playing politics. He must also not get involved in actions to destabilize his country.
Between President Touadéra and me, relations are very good. And this is seen at each of our meetings on major occasions such as the AU summits. It was even planned that he would come and visit Guinea-Bissau.
I am not going to extradite Bozizé, I want that to be clear.”
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