Conde trial resumes next week

The trial of opposition leader Alpha Conde is set to resume at the state security court in Conakry on 22 May, Guinea radio announced. Conde, a parliamentarian, has been in jail since his arrest on 15 December 1998 near the Ivorian border, a day after the presidential election in which he emerged as the third choice candidate. He has been charged, along with 47 others, with “endangering the state”, as well as assaulting law enforcement officers and fraudulently transferring foreign exchange. News organisations reported him as saying he did not know his co-accused. The trial, which began on 12 April, is being witnessed by several international observers.