Twelve suspected coup-plotters released on probation

Twelve men held without trial for almost a year on suspicion of plotting to overthrow Guinean President Lansana Conte, have been released on probation, legal and activist sources said on Wednesday. The two army officers and ten civilians, were arrested in December last year, a month after the detention of dozens of other military personnel in connection with a suspected coup plot against Conte, sources say. The government of the ailing 70-year-old Guinean leader, who came to power in a military putsch 20 years ago, has never publicly admitted arresting anybody in connection with the alleged plot. "They have been released to everybody's great surprise following heavy pressure from families," Christian Sow, a lawyer in touch with some of the former detainees, told IRIN by phone from the capital Conakry on Wednesday. "It was really unexpected." The authorities' decision to release the suspects coincided with visits by delegations from the European Union and France. Michel de Bonnecorse, special envoy of President Jacques Chirac, was due to meet President Conte on Wednesday, newspapers in Conakry reported. And a new team from the EU has recently touched down as negotiations continue between the government and the European Commission on the release of a 221 million euro (US$ 274) aid package which has been withheld for several years. The EU is demanding economic and political reforms to establish better governance and genuine democracy before releasing the money and say no decision is likely until the end of the month. Sow said two army officers, Major Kader Doumbouya and Lieutenant Bella Sadio Ba, were among the 12 detainees released on probation. The men appeared before a magistrate on Monday, were notified of and denied the charges against them, the lawyer said. Unlike Doumbouya and Ba, many of the military detainees rounded up at the end of last year were released before the presidential election on 21 December, which returned Conte to power for a further seven-year term. But a human rights activist in Conakry told IRIN on Wednesday that 10 army officers were still in custody. "Ten army officers are still missing but we know that they have left the PM3 prison and are now detained in the main prison of Conakry," said the activist who asked not to be named. The 12 men now on probation had served their 10 months in the notorious PM3 prison, which has been criticised for its very poor conditions by human rights organisations, including the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).