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Guinea’s Opposition Leader Describes Police Firing Tear Gas and AK-47s at Protests

We spoke to the leader of Guinea’s opposition party about recent clashes in the country’s capital that left at least one protester dead and several wounded.
Imagen por Cellou Binani/AFP/Getty

Guinea's opposition leader says he personally witnessed police firing tear gas and AK-47s during deadly protests this week in the country's capital.

Cellou Dalein Diallo, leader of the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG) party, spoke with VICE News this week amid violent anti-government demonstrations in Conakry sparked by the country's poor security situation and a disputed timetable over this year's elections.

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Guinea's presidential election is currently scheduled for October, but protesters are angry that the government led by President Alpha Condé broke an earlier agreement to hold local elections first.

Local media and AFP reported that several people were arrested Tuesday during clashes with the police. Police shot and killed a protester Monday during riots in several suburbs of Conakry.

According to a government statement, 10 people were injured in Monday's clashes and six were treated for gunshot wounds. The opposition contested these numbers, claiming police injured 30 people and wounded seven with gunshots. National police spokesman Aboubacar Kasse said 16 people were arrested Monday, and that four police officers were wounded.

The government has denied that police fired real bullets into the crowds, claiming that, "the various outbreaks of violence were handled without using firearms." Guinean authorities have also urged "all political stakeholders to show restraint," appealing for talks and condemning the opposition's "repeated call to violence and insurgency."

Guinean Prime Minister Mohamed Saïd Fofana has urged the West African country's political factions to resume talks and "reach a consensus" over the elections.

Diallo told AFP on Tuesday that the protests should be suspended until next Monday "to give our members and the population space to breathe."

Prior to calling for a temporary halt to the demonstrations, Diallo spoke with VICE News about the recent clashes, his UFDG party, the Ebola outbreak, and the current political situation in Guinea.

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Related: Eight wounded as security forces open fire at violent protests in Guinean capital

VICE News: Who is out in the streets, protesting?
Cellou Dalein Diallo: They are first and foremost opposition sympathizers and activists, but we've also seen a lot of regular citizens who have come here to voice their dissatisfaction. The UFDG is the main opposition party. That said, the opposition came together as a whole to organize these protests and to demand the constitution and country's laws be respected.

What are the protesters' demands?
They want more freedom, more democracy, better living conditions. Since Mr. Condé came into office, human rights have been violated and there is widespread insecurity. Furthermore, Mr. Alpha Condé has systematically refused to organize local elections since he came to power, even though the term of office of local officials expired in December 2010. Instead of holding democratic elections, he appointed his party officials to offices around the country. This is contrary to the provisions set out by the community code and the Constitution of the Republic. We fought for two and a half years to finally obtain legislative elections in 2013. He didn't want them, because he knew he couldn't win.

'Police officers fired tear gas at us before grabbing their weapons and firing shots in the air.'

In his statement, the minister of security and civil protection denies police used firearms to suppress the protests. What do you have to say about that?
It's not true. Your journalist colleagues witnessed it. I myself was out there earlier today, and I saw a police officer firing shots in the air with a Kalashnikov. I had gone out to encourage protesters and police officers fired tear gas at us before grabbing their weapons and firing shots in the air. Twelve people sustained gunshot wounds yesterday.

Are you calling for more protests?
Of course. We are going to continue taking to the streets until our demands are met.

Guinea is still struggling to contain the Ebola outbreak. Recently, the government banned opposition protests on sanitary grounds. What do you think about that?
The government continues to organize demonstrations to support the reelection of the outgoing president. Gatherings continue to take place in Conakry, the president organizes receptions… But if the opposition tries to do something, they say, "No, there's Ebola." Ebola has become the perfect excuse to justify the outgoing government's poor performance record. In 2013, before the outbreak, our growth rate was only 2.3 percent, whereas the Ivory Coast had a growth rate of 9 percent, Liberia 7 percent, and Sierra Leone 14.8 percent. Today, the government blames its poor performance on Ebola, when [the performance record] is really just a result of its policy and incompetence.

Follow Pierre Mareczko on Twitter: @MareczkoP

Additional reporting by Matthieu Jublin: @MatthieuJublin