Guinée-Bissau: le Sénégal demande la libération des prisonniers du coup d'Etat
A Senegalese delegation visiting Bissau on Sunday called for the release of political opponents who were taken prisoner a month ago in a coup that installed a military junta in power.
On November 26, the day before the expected announcement of the provisional results of the presidential and legislative elections in Guinea-Bissau, a Portuguese-speaking country in West Africa, the military overthrew outgoing President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, in power since 2020, and suspended the ongoing electoral process.
The junta has since appointed General Horta N'Tam, a close associate of Mr. Embalo, as president of a transition intended to last one year.
Opposition candidate Fernando Dias, who claimed victory, sought refuge at the Nigerian embassy, which granted him asylum. A prominent opposition leader, Domingos Simões Pereira, was taken prisoner on the day of the coup, along with other opposition figures.
President Embalo, initially detained by the military, has now fled the country.
Led by Foreign Minister Cheikh Niang, the delegation visited detained opposition members and Mr. Dias at the Nigerian embassy.
"Senegal came to reiterate its determination to support Guinea-Bissau and ensure that normality returns as soon as possible," said the head of Senegalese diplomacy.
This delegation made "the proposal (...) to release all those who are being held following the change that took place on November 26," Mr. Niang continued.
A delegation of chiefs of staff from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was expected in Bissau this Sunday but ultimately did not come.
"For the moment, we are not prepared to receive the ECOWAS military delegation," a Bissau-Guinean security source told AFP.
Last week, ECOWAS threatened to impose "targeted sanctions" on anyone who tries to obstruct the return to civilian rule in Guinea-Bissau.
Located between Senegal and Guinea (Conakry), Guinea-Bissau, an unstable country, had already experienced four coups and a host of attempted coups since its independence from Portugal in 1974.
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