A military court in Guinea Bissau has placed an opposition leader, Domingos Pereira, in prison over accusations of indulging in a coup ousted the country’s previous government.
Pereira, leader of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, PAIGC, was said to have financed coup attempts against the administration of Umaro Embalo who held the position of a President West African country.
During his appearance at a military court on Friday, he was immediately taken under heavy escort to the Segunda Esquanda Prison in Bissau, as relayed by a security source.
One of Pereira’s counsel teams, Roberto Indeque, said that they decided to boycott the hearing by refusing to appear, on the grounds that the proceedings were taking place outside the legal framework and that we had not even been informed of our client’s appearance before the judge.
The legal team denounced the accusations against their client as arbitrary and say they are part of a politically motivated campaign aimed at barring him from the presidential race scheduled for December 6.
Guinea-Bissau has seen five coups d’etat and several attempted overthrows since its independence in 1974. General Horta N’Tam leads the current military government.
The west African nation’s crippling poverty and political chaos have also made it a fertile ground for corruption and drug smuggling.