Guinea: Former Constitutional Court president sentenced to seven years in prison

Mohamed Lamine Bangoura, Guinea’s former Constitutional Court president, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for corruption, embezzlement of public funds, illicit enrichment and money laundering. The Court for the Repression of Economic and Financial Crimes also fined him two billion Guinean francs and ordered the seizure of his assets in Guinea and Senegal. Two co-defendants who remain at large received ten-year sentences, and all three were ordered to pay the state 41 billion Guinean francs jointly. Detained since December 2022, Bangoura denies the accusations, while the opposition alleges that the justice system is being politicised and freedoms restricted.