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Military officers acquitted

    ABIDJAN

    A court in Guinea-Bissau has acquitted a senior military official, Colonel Sandji Fati, of charges linked to his defence of ex-president Joao Bernardo Vieira's government during a mutiny by a section of the military between June 1998 and May 1999, news organisations reported.

    LUSA reported that Fati had been accused of treason, sabotage of national defence and collaboration with foreign invaders - a reference to Senegalese and Guinean troops that helped Vieira against the Junta Militar, led by the former chief of staff, Gen Ansumane Mane.

    The Bissau regional court ruled on Thursday that he had acted "within the scope of his military status" and should be acquitted under the terms of an accord signed during the conflict, Lusa said. The accord stated that no one could be persecuted or tried for having fought on one side or the other.

    Fati was among Vieira loyalists imprisoned by the Junta Militar when it overthrew Vieira in May 1999. Two others, Brig-Gen Humberto Gomes, former chief of staff of the armed forces, and his assistant, Afonso Te, were acquitted earlier.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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