Guinea Bissau Junta Lifts Some Restrictions On Opposition Politicians

The military junta in Guinea-Bissau is no longer seeking to arrest a senior opposition politician who has been on the run, an opposition official said on Saturday.

But another prominent opposition leader, whom the military released from prison only on Friday, has now been placed under house arrest.

The junta imprisoned several senior politicians after overthrowing president Umaro Sissoco Embalo and seizing power on November 26, just days after the presidential election and before the official results were released.

The military suspended the electoral process and Embalo fled the country.

His main election rival, Fernando Dias, who said he had won the vote, escaped arrest by taking sanctuary in the Nigerian embassy.

On Saturday, Dias’s communications manager said the military had lifted most of the restrictions placed on Dias.

READ ALSO: Landslide Hits Mining Site in DR Congo, Several Feared Dead

But fellow opposition leader Domingos Simoes Pereira, who had been freed from jail on Friday after months in detention, had now been placed under house arrest.

Dias “is not under house arrest”, communications manager Gabriel Ye told AFP.

“The only restrictions imposed on him by the military authorities are that he must refrain from making public statements or engaging in political activities,” he added.

He said Embalo’s former prime minister, Geraldo Martins, had been released.

But veteran politician Pereira, a fierce opponent of Embalo’s, was released from jail in Bissau on Friday evening only to be placed under house arrest.

“All those detained in connection with the coup have been released,” army commander Jorgito Biague told AFP on Saturday.

“Domingos Simoes Pereira is the only one under house arrest — for economic crimes. His case is in the hands of the judiciary and not the military high command,” he said.

On Friday evening, Pereira was escorted to his residence on the outskirts of the capital, where he was cheered by supporters.

Pereira leads the PAIGC party, which led the coastal west African country to independence from independence from Portugal in 1974.

He was disqualified from the presidential election for submitting his application too late and then backed Dias.

Guinea-Bissau has experienced five coups and a string of attempted military takeovers since independence.

On Saturday, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) “welcomed the recent measures taken by the transitional authorities” in Guinea-Bissau, which it said were aimed at “fostering an inclusive political environment and advancing the country’s return to constitutional order”.

The regional bloc called for the “full release” of Pereira and “guarantees of fundamental rights and freedoms for all citizens”.

It urged “all stakeholders” to work together towards “a peaceful and credible transition leading to democratic elections”.