By Lansana Fofana
FREETOWN, Jan 4 1999 (IPS)

Guinea’s opposition leaders say they have become the targets of a government ‘witch-hunt’ following the arrest of opposition leader Alpha Conde who has been charged with plotting to overthrow the government.

Conde, leader of the Guinean People’s Rally (RPG) party, was arrested less than 24 hours after the Dec. 14 general elections which returned General Lansana Conte to power.

The opposition leader, who was one of the main contenders to Conte at the December polls, was accused of trying to flee to Cote d’Ivoire last month at a time when the borders were officially closed.

Now the government’s prosecutor has formally charged Conde with plotting to violently topple the regime of President Conte by recruiting foreign mercenaries, attempting to leave the country illegal and he has been accused of allegedly conducting illegal transactions in foreign currencies.

Other opposition leaders in the West African nation say they have had no peace since Conde’s arrest. “We now have to put up with an unprecedented troops build-up in the capital, while tanks and heavy weapons have been put in strategic positions,” Mohammed Sowe, an opposition spokesperson told IPS.

Sowe, who describes the political climate as a “reign of terror”, says agents of Conte’s administration have embarked on a witch-hunt, targetting suspected opposition sympathisers.

Reports say more than 30 opposition activists have been rounded up in the capital, while two persons were killed and several injured in a mass demonstration a week ago in the eastern district of Siguiri, near the border with Mali.

Conde has not yet appeared in court and is reportedly being held in solitary confinement at the Kundara military camp, according to officials of the Coordination of the Democratic Coalition (CODEM), a coalition of opposition groups.

CODEM officials say Conde’s health is fast deteriorating and that the authorities have refused him access to doctors and members of his family.

The umbrella group is pulling together a team of lawyers to represent Conde whenever he appears in court.

Ba Mamadou, one of CODEM’s spokespersons, says the charges against Conde are a mere “frame-up” by the Conte regime, and that other opposition leaders have been harassed.

“Alpha Conde has been charged and we the other opposition leaders are prevented, by the security forces, from leaving the country as our homes are heavily guarded by soldiers and units of the gendarmerie. It’s a tough situation,” Mamadou told journalists in Guinea at the weekend.

Human rights activists in the country of 10 million people have repeatedly accused the Conte administration of violating fundamental freedoms. They allege that over 200 opponents of Conte’s government are in Guinean jails and have not been brought to court.

Conte came to power in 1984 following a bitter power struggle in the military high command, after the death of the Guinean leader Ahmed Sekou Toure.

In 1996, attempts by military officers to topple Conte in a mutiny were crushed with several senior officers either killed, jailed or forced into exile.

Conte is reported to have won over 50 percent of the total votes in the December 1998 polls.

Excerpt: