The body of a Guinean colonel who disappeared almost a year ago was presented to his wife in the capital, Conakry, on Wednesday, according to one of their lawyers.
Colonel Celestin Bilivogui is the second military officer in recent months to be declared dead under mysterious circumstances after being detained by the junta, which has been in power since 2021.
According to Bilivogui’s lawyers, the deceased was taken by security forces from his office in the military pensions department early last November and subsequently transported to an unknown location. His wife and lawyers reported that they had not heard from him since.
This incident occurred days after former dictator Moussa Dadis Camara and three others on trial for a 2009 massacre escaped from prison in the capital. The armed prison break resulted in several deaths and raised concerns about the possibility of another coup in the West African nation.
In the days following the incident, Bilivogui and dozens of other military personnel were dismissed from the army.
On Wednesday, his wife was summoned to the main military administration centre in Conakry and taken to a morgue “where she was presented with the body of her husband,” said Salifou Beavogui, one of their lawyers, in a message to the press. A family member confirmed this information to an AFP journalist.
“Kidnapped and held for a year, he has had no right to a trial or to justice,” Beavogui stated. The authorities have not issued any comment on the matter.
In June, General Sadiba Koulibaly, the former army chief of staff and the junta’s ex-second-in-command, passed away while in custody shortly after receiving a military court sentence for desertion and weapons violations.
Two anti-junta activists, Oumar Sylla, better known as Fonike Mengue, and Mamadou Billo Bah, have been missing since their arrest by security forces in July, according to their pro-democracy movement.
Since junta leader Mamady Doumbouya seized power in a coup in September 2021, Guinea’s opposition has faced severe repression, with many opposition leaders detained, brought before the courts, or forced into exile.