The interim Military junta of Guinea has ruled that ousted president Alpha Conde is “finally free” and can receive visitors.
Conde, 84, became Guinea’s first democratically elected president in 2010, but was deposed by army officers in 2021 and replaced by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya.
He was allowed parole on medical grounds, for which he went to the United Arab Emirates for medical treatment in January, to return to Guinea on April 10.
His party, Rally of the Guinean People (RPG) has said that he was not truly free before or after his trip, and demanded his “total and unconditional freedom”.
To follow through with its demands, the RPG suspended its participation at a junta-organised national reconciliation conference in protest at his detention.
A statement by the junta published on Friday said that Doumbouya “informs national and international opinion that the former president of the republic is finally free”.
“While continuing to benefit from adequate protection, he can receive on-demand members of his biological and political family, friends and close ones,” it said.
The statement said Conde will stay at his wife’s house in the capital Conakry until his own private house is constructed in the suburb of Kipe.
“The dignity and integrality of professor Alpha Conde will always be preserved,” the statement said.
Conde’s successful bid for a third term in office – which critics said breached the constitution, was greeted by fierce demonstrations across the country. The coup was a culmination of the protests.
Doumbouya, who has been sworn in as interim president, has promised to restore civilian rule, but resisted international pressure to commit to a specific time frame.