Conakry is still in mourning after the death of two young Guineans, shot Wednesday August 17 during a day of demonstration at the call of the National Front for the Defense of the Constitution, collective of the opposition and the dissolved civil society by the authorities. The latter demands more transparency in the management of the country by the junta of Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya, who came to power through the coup that overthrew former President Alpha Condé.
With our correspondent in Conakry, Mouctar Bah
It was around 2:40 p.m. on Wednesday August 17 when Ibrahima Baldé, a professional driver, was hit by a bullet in Wanindara, a red-light district in the capital Conakry. Urgently evacuated to a clinic in his neighborhood, he died a few moments later. Later in the day, the death of a second young man was confirmed.
With these two tragedies, the new number of victims in the demonstrations since the arrival of the National Rally Committee for Development (CNRD) in power in September 2021 rises to eight, according to counts by the press and human rights defenders.
If the call of FNDC to demonstrate did not disrupt the day in the administrative and business district of the Kaloum peninsula, sporadic clashes were reported in other districts of the capital. The leaders of the Front, who are calling for the establishment of a real framework for dialogue between the junta, political actors and civil society, welcomed the mobilization.
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In a statement to RFI, one of the movement’s spokespersons said ” happy to have given work to the police who have not been idle throughout this rainy day “, adding that” despite the dissuasive deployment of the army and the police, we were listened to by the population of Conakry and some towns in the interior of the country “.
Among these cities, Dalaba and Labé, where clashes broke out between demonstrators and police. They made dozens of arrests, according to various sources.