Growing calls for Conde's release

There is growing pressure on Guinea's government to release opposition politician Alpha Conde who has been in prison for just over a year, Reuters reported on Thursday. Conde's lawyers have said they have not yet received full details of the charges against the politician, whose family and friends have been refused permission to see him, Reuters reported. Conde, who was arrested shortly after a presidential poll in which he was a candidate, was charged with trying to leave the country illegally at a time when the borders were officially closed for voting and of seeking to recruit troops to destabilise Guinea. One opposition politician told Radio France Internationale that the jailing of Conde had damaged Guinea's image abroad and appealed to the president to find a solution. Mamadou Ba, leader of an opposition alliance that includes Conde's party, said the government had turned its back on democracy, Reuters reported.