A Guinean special court dedicated to financial crimes has sentenced former Prime Minister Ibrahima Kassory Fofana to five years in prison for embezzlement, illicit enrichment, and corruption. Fofana, who led the government under President Alpha Condé from May 2018 until a military coup in September 2021, has been in detention since April 2022.
The court found that Fofana misappropriated 15 billion Guinean francs, which were allocated for pandemic response and socioeconomic development projects during the Condé administration. In addition to the prison sentence, he was ordered to pay a fine of 2 million Guinean francs (approximately $230,600) and 18 billion Guinean francs in damages.
This case is part of a broader anti-corruption campaign launched by Guinea’s military-led transitional government following the 2021 coup. The transitional authorities established the Court for the Repression of Economic and Financial Crimes (CRIEF) to prosecute public officials accused of misusing state funds. Since then, several prominent figures from the former civilian government have been investigated or jailed.
In November 2022, the junta directed prosecutors to pursue legal action against former President Alpha Condé and over 180 former officials. In a similar ruling in December, Mohamed Diané—Condé’s former defense minister—was also sentenced to five years for embezzlement, money laundering, and related crimes.
While the junta, under the leadership of General Mamady Doumbouya, claims its goal is to tackle systemic corruption and restore integrity in public office, critics have accused it of curbing civil liberties and using the justice system to silence opposition voices.
, an independent military force, and allied militias in Sudan raped several dozen women and girls in West Darfur’s capital, El Geneina, and those fleeing to Chad between late April and late June 2023, Human Rights Watch said today. The assailants appear to have targeted people because of their Massalit ethnicity and, in some cases, because they were known activists.){kind=link}