Tension erupted at the Kankan Central House in Guinea on Tuesday evening, as warning shots were fired during a security operation to transfer a prisoner to Kindia. The incident occurred in the Gare district, with several residents reporting hearing the shots around 5 pm. An significant security presence was visible around the Central House, with military personnel and agents from the Anti-Crime Brigade (BAC 23) deployed to the scene.
The prosecutor of the Republic at the Kankan first-instance court, Ibrahima 1 Camara, addressed the incident in a press conference on Wednesday, September 30. He explained that the shots were fired after prisoners opposed the transfer operation. According to Camara, the prosecutor general of the Court of Appeal had decided to transfer a prisoner considered a security risk at the Central House to the Kindia civil prison.
The prisoner in question was a convicted individual deemed to pose a danger to the security of the detention center. As a result, a decision was made to transfer him to Kindia. Agents from the BAC were tasked with executing this measure, but encountered opposition from prisoners when they arrived at the Central House. The prisoners refused to let the detainee leave, prompting the security forces to fire warning shots to contain the situation.
The warning shots were intended to prevent a worse outcome, according to the prosecutor. Camara emphasized that the operation was solely aimed at executing the transfer measure and not at provoking an incident within the prison. He explained that the prisoner's transfer was part of the country's penal policy, which seeks to relocate convicted individuals deemed a security risk to facilities where their danger is less threatening.
However, a source who contacted Mediaguinee on Tuesday evening provided a different account of the incident. According to this anonymous source, hooded men arrived to take the head of the prison's court to an undisclosed destination, prompting opposition from prisoners. The source claimed that prisoners often face transfers to unknown locations and that they opposed the move because the head of the court had done nothing wrong.
The anonymous source corroborated that the prisoners' refusal led to the warning shots being fired outside the prison courtyard. Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident. The source described the security personnel as hooded and unable to be identified as either police or military officers.
According to the prosecutor, the situation eventually returned to normal, and the prisoner was transferred to Kindia as decided by the judicial authorities. No casualties were reported following the incident. However, the circumstances surrounding the opposition to the transfer remain disputed between the prosecutor's account and that of the anonymous source.
Key points
- The incident involved warning shots being fired during a security operation to transfer a prisoner from Kankan Central House to Kindia.
- The prosecutor and an anonymous source provided differing accounts of the incident, with the prosecutor attributing the tension to prisoners opposing the transfer and the source suggesting it was part of a larger pattern of prisoner transfers to undisclosed locations.
- The situation was eventually brought under control, and the prisoner was transferred without further incident.
