Lawyers fear for opposition leader’s health

Lawyers for detained Guinean opposition party leader Alpha Conde have expressed concern for his health since being held in solitary confinement. One of Conde’s lawyers, Christian Sow, told Radio France Internationale on Saturday, that they had had no contact with their client for a week; whereas before they had more or less unrestricted access. “I fear that such conditions of detention may again weaken his health,” Sow said. He added that Conde had been denied newspapers and other reading material. Conde’s present condition of detention, the radio said, was allegedly linked to the publication of an interview he granted the weekly magazine, ‘Jeune Afrique’. “The reason is the fact that Mr. Conde succeeded in talking to people from outside,” Sow told the radio. “In my opinion, it is only because he succeeded in doing so. They want to reduce Mr. Conde to absolute silence.” Conde, leader of the Rassemblement du peuple de Guinee (RPG), was arrested near the border with Cote d’Ivoire and accused of trying to leave the country during the 14 December presidential election, in contravention of the law.