« You cannot pardon someone who should never have been convicted »

Aliou Bah, leader of the Liberal Democratic Movement in Guinea, spent 22 months in detention after his arrest on December 26, 2024, and his conviction on January 25, 2025, to two years in prison for 'offense to the head of state.' The ECOWAS Court of Justice ordered his immediate release in June 2026, but the ruling was not enforced until a new referral in September 2026. Opponents criticize a presidential pardon that conceals the initial injustice and accuse Mamadi Doumbouya of exercising power based on his will, turning the state and justice into his tools. Bah’s release is credited to ECOWAS and his own efforts, not to presidential clemency.