Second trial related to 2009 Conakry Stadium massacre opens in Guinea

Sixteen years after a massacre at a Conakry stadium left 156 people dead, a second trial has opened in the Guinean capital, this time involving seven people accused of participating in the attack.

The defendants are facing a range of charges, including abuse of authority, murder, rape and torture. Three of them are on the run and will be tried in absentia.

The first trial related to the massacre took two years and in 2024 former leader Moussa Dadis Camara was sentenced to 20 years in prison for crimes against humanity. He was pardoned earlier this year by the head of Guinea’s military junta. Seven other defendants were convicted, with some receiving life sentences.

On September 28, 2009, a crackdown on an opposition rally left 156 people dead. They were shot, stabbed or bayoneted, and hundreds of others were injured. More than 100 women were raped, with some held captive, tortured and forced into sexual slavery.