Guinea-Bissau: Security personnel of political prisoners released

The High Military Command, which led the 26 November coup d’état in Guinea-Bissau, released six detainees from among the civilians held in Bissau on Tuesday, 23 December. Those released include Nhossa Vítor da Silva and Vítor António Oliveira, two members of the security team of Domingos Simões Pereira; Paulo Pier Có, security for Domingos Simões Pereira’s son; António da Costa, security at the PAIGC headquarters; Ernesto Ié, driver for Domingos Simões Pereira; and Januário Gomes Betunde, driver for the lawyer and PAIGC official Otávio Lopes. The release of these six men follows, on the one hand, the directives of the ECOWAS leaders’ summit on 14 December, and on the other, serves as proof of the High Military Command’s irrevocable commitment to an orderly transition process that prioritises the supreme interest of the Guinean nation.

This is stated in a communiqué from the High Military Command on the release of the six men, who had been detained for 28 days in the cells of Bissau’s second police station. Still detained in the same facility are leaders Domingos Simões Pereira, Octávio Lopes, Marciano Indi, all from PAIGC, and Roberto Mbesba from the Social Renewal Party (PRS). The communiqué from the High Military Command indicates that their release will occur gradually based on national reconciliation, in observance of the higher interests of peace, security, and public order in Guinea-Bissau. In an interview with the Africa channel of the Portuguese public radio, RDP, Denisa Simões Pereira, daughter of Domingos Simões Pereira, said the family remains concerned about the recent release of the security personnel, as they acted as intermediaries in the transport of food to Simões Pereira.