Alpha Condé, kept in detention in a special forces antenna, will he be released? The international community has made this release its priority.
Three days after the coup d'état, the National Committee for Rally and Development (CNRD) and the various Guinean components - from ministers to the opposition - negotiated in particular the releases of prisoners of conscience. Alpha Condé, him, still languishes in a wing of the special forces installed at the entrance of the palace, in Kaloum. As the contours of the new power take shape, what fate will be reserved for the former Guinean president?
ECOWAS - and more generally the international community, from France to the UN - called for the “immediate release” of Alpha Condé. But can the military behind the putsch decently release the ousted president in the hours to come, at the risk of seeing their coup annihilated?
In Mali, last August, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta had come under pressure from the putschists and resigned, during a speech broadcast on television and filmed from an office at the Soundiata-Keïta military camp in Kati. Since then, “IBK” has been free to move around. The former Malian head of state spends his time between Bamako and Abu Dhabi, where he receives treatment. He has also completely withdrawn from political life, remaining walled up behind media silence.
"Condé is not the kind of man to resign"
Will Alpha Condé follow this path? "He is not the kind of man who is forced to sign a resignation," said a close friend of the ousted Guinean president. Difficult to imagine an Alpha Condé who would impose a right of reserve, he who lived for politics. A former opponent, Condé wanted to stay in power at all costs. And those around him see him badly, today, to take a forced retirement.
Among the opponents of Alpha Condé, the imprisonment of the former president is debated. Even the NGOs are calling for his release. "The instigators of the coup must indicate the legal basis for the detention of President Alpha Condé", indicates Amnesty International, which qualifies however by indicating that "he must be charged with an offense recognized by law or released immediately ”.
The Rally of the People of Guinea (RPG) of Alpha Condé calls, for its part, "the new authorities, as they have solemnly committed themselves, to preserve the physical and moral integrity of President Alpha Condé and to proceed to his rapid and unconditional release ”. In the meantime, the former president threatens to go on hunger strike if it is not his faithful cook who prepares dishes for him.
It remains to be seen what the military in power will do. The ECOWAS, which meets virtually this Wednesday August 8, will certainly ask again the release of Alpha Condé. Alassane Ouattara spoke with the putschists. The Ivorian president reiterated the request of ECOWAS, while Mamady Doumbouya assures that Condé is well treated. The putschist also promised an early release of Alpha Condé. To be judged? Where will he find a welcoming land, far from Guinea?