CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) 鈥 A Guinea court on Wednesday sentenced former junta leader Moussa 鈥淒adis鈥 Camara to 20 years in prison after finding him guilty of crimes against humanity in the 2009 stadium massacre by the military that killed at least 157 people and left dozens of women raped.
Guinea鈥檚 Criminal Court convicted Camara and seven other high-ranking officials after a prolonged trial on charges of murder, kidnapping and rape that were reclassified as 鈥渃rimes against humanity" on Wednesday. Four other accused were acquitted.
More than 100 survivors and victims鈥 relatives testified in the trial that started in November 2022, more than a decade after the massacre and under pressure from families and activists demanding justice.
Some of the victims' relatives lauded the verdict as justice at last while others said the penalty for Camara in particular was not enough.
鈥淭he convictions do not match the crimes. Our sisters were raped, our brothers massacred, bodies reported missing,鈥 said Safiatou Bald茅, 25, a relative of one of the victims.
Maimounatou Tounkara said a part of him died with his brother who was killed in the massacre. 鈥淚 am still bleeding and these convictions will not heal the wounds,鈥 he said.
The demonstrators at the stadium in Sept. 2009 were protesting Camara鈥檚 plans to run for president when soldiers opened fire on them and raped dozens of women. The then-military leader had staged a coup the previous year.
The junta at the time said 鈥渦ncontrolled鈥 elements of the army carried out the rapes and killings. But Camara鈥檚 top aides were at the stadium and did nothing to stop the massacre, a Human Rights Watch report said.
Wednesday鈥檚 court decision "sends a message loud and clear to those responsible for serious crimes in Guinea and elsewhere that justice is possible,鈥 said Tamara Aburamadan, international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch.
Many of the victims in the stadium massacre were shot, crushed or knifed to death while some of the women were dragged out from hiding and gang-raped by uniformed men over several days, witnesses said.
Many could not flee the gunfire after Camara鈥檚 presidential guard surrounded the stadium and blocked the exits, survivors said.
It took several days before the families of the victims were allowed to come and collect the bodies, they said . Many, though, never found the bodies of their relatives.
Camara fled into exile after he survived an assassination attempt several months after the massacre but returned to Guinea more than a decade later.
鈥淚f I鈥檓 here before you it鈥檚 because of my patriotism, otherwise I would not have agreed to come,鈥 to face trial, adding that he was asleep as the massacre unfolded.
While in jail late last year, who stormed the country鈥檚 main prison but was back in custody hours later as his lawyer said he had been kidnapped.
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Associated Press journalist Chinedu Asadu in Abuja, Nigeria contributed.
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