The junta that overthrew Guinea’s president, Alpha Conde, on Sunday announced that he is “finally free” and can receive guests.
Conde became Guinea’s first democratically elected president in 2010, but he was deposed by army leaders last year and replaced by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya.
In January, he was granted permission to travel to the United Arab Emirates for medical treatment, and he returned to Guinea on April 10.
His party, the Rally of the Guinean People (RPG), has claimed that he was not genuinely free before or after his journey, and has requested that he be given “complete and absolute independence.”
According to a statement issued by the junta late Friday, Doumbouya “informs national and world opinion that the former president of the republic is finally free.”
“He can welcome members of his biological and political family, friends, and close ones on demand while continuing to benefit from proper protection,” it stated.
The statement added that Conde will stay at his wife’s house in the capital Conakry until his own private house is constructed in the suburb of Kipe.
Conde’s successful attempt for a third term in power sparked violent protests, which detractors claimed violated the constitution.
