Communiqué of the lawyer for lawyers for Mr. Ibrahima KASSORY FOFANA

Ibrahima Kassory Fofana affair at the life: a parody of justice

The lawyer for the lawyers of Mr. Ibrahima Kassory Fofana brings to the attention of opinion, the serious irregularities and violations of the legal proceedings undertaken against him, which procedure, from his beginning, was marked by interference with political connotations, revealed by the international press.

1. Abusive and unjustified arrest: Mr. Fofana was referred on April 6, 2022, to the prosecution of the Court of Repression of Economic and Financial Incrections ” Crief ”, which, under the fallacious pretext of flagrant offense, placed it Under the deposit warrant, then although he has left his official office for six (06) months before. This arrest, carried out under incredible conditions, is not based on any legal basis, thus constituting a manifest violation of its fundamental rights.

2. Mandate of deposit without legal basis: the special prosecutor near the ripe has issued a warrant of deposit on the basis of a minutes of preliminary investigations containing no charges justifying criminal proceedings. The investigating chamber which had been later seized did not validate this mandate, due to its irregular nature which is explained by the fact that, the prosecuted was already in detention following procedure of flagrant of offense.

3. Violation of legal deadlines: In accordance with legal provisions, any person arrested in the act of offense must be presented before a competent court within 72 hours. This period not having been respected, the detention of Mr. Fofana, is then illegal from its origin. This illegality results from the fact that Mr. Ibrahima Kassory Fofana, was to be presented to a judge of the judgment instead of an investigating judge for the procedure of flagrant offense, then invoked by the prosecution, on the one hand. And on the other hand, it should be released before being translated before the investigating judge who should then decide the measures to be considered.

4. Abusive transfers of procedure and illegal maintenance in detention: the special prosecutor has transformed the initial procedure of flagrant offense, in an instruction procedure regularly undertaken, without taking into account the legal obligations attached to this requalification: that is To say the release of the defendant, for the sole purpose of keeping him in detention without any legal basis.

5. Not founded accusations: During the first appearance on May 19, 2022, the special prosecutor’s office advanced accusations of embezzlement of $ 46 million in Mamri, as well as allegations concerning the possession of various real estate and financial assets. In the absence of tangible evidence, these accusations collapsed as a castle of cards, from the first interrogation of Mr. Ibrahima Kassory Fofana, thus leading, the chamber of instruction of the life, to order his release. Subsequently, the control chamber of this investigation dismissed the special prosecutor of his appeal and confirmed the liberation decision rendered by the investigative chamber.

6. Complicity of the magistrates of the Supreme Court with the Special Prosecutor near the Rief: the Special Prosecutor then introduced an appeal against the Liberation decision, this time at the Supreme Court. To everyone’s surprise, after almost a year of waiting, the Supreme Court made a controversial decision, which allowed the special prosecutor, to maintain the customer in detention, thereby illustrating the deep obstacle that suffered, ‘independence of justice.

Communiqué of the lawyer for lawyers for Mr. Ibrahima KASSORY FOFANA

7. Abusive extension of pre -trial detention: despite the expiration of the legal pre -trial detention period of eight months, the special prosecutor’s office systematically rejected all the provisional liberation decisions of Mr. Fofana, in flagrant violation of the law.

8. Political pressures and interference: after a year of abusive detention in the absence of convincing charges, the investigating chamber had drawn up a project of report of dismissal which it had submitted to the various parties to the procedure . This project could not be finalized due to political pressures, and the investigative chamber was obliged to return our client and others immediately feared before the judgment chamber.
It was then that a new artificial count was thus introduced into the file, questioning an alleged
Mamri hijacking of 15 billion Guinean francs unbeatable accusation which had never been raised
During the investigation.

9. Non-compliance with international decisions: the Court of Justice of the ECOWAS community has made a judgment ordering the immediate and unlocaled release of Mr. Fofana, with payment of damages suffered. This decision remained a dead letter, never receiving an execution.

10. A critical and ignored state of health: hospitalized for two years, Mr. Fofana, is in an alarming state of health, several medical reports attest to this state of affairs, with recommendation of his evacuation, to a better equipped care center. A medical counter-expertise led by the Donka University Hospital, on prescription from the Crief, confirmed the seven (7) previous medical reports, recommending its evacuation. This evacuation was effectively ordered on December 11, 2024, by the chamber of judgment for the execution of which the special prosecutor opposed a categorical refusal. And against all odds, it is rather a challenge to the president of this chamber of judgment which was engaged by the Special Prosecutor, for reasons as false as they are inexistant. Curiously, the President of the Rief admitted this challenge by replaced the President of the Judgment Chamber by one of his advisers with which he had sat when the evacuation was ordered. This in violation of the Sacro Saint Judicial principle which prohibits the same magistrate from judging the same person two (02) times in a row.

11. Hunting for disturbing judges: in general, all the judges who said the right in favor of persons translated before the Rief, and in particular Mr. Ibrahima Kassory Fofana, are sent back from this jurisdiction, because of Mr. Special prosecutor.
The high number of magistrates who stayed in front of the rhyesth, and returned thereafter of this fact said a lot.

12. A biased trial, precipitated on political pressure: as the international press revealed, on December 30, 2024, ‘’ Instructions were given to the Special Prosecutor to accelerate the procedure. Thus, an audience was scheduled in extreme emergency, for the next day, on December 31, and the trial then opened up in defiance of the previous judicial decisions not executed, including that ordering a health evacuation of the accused.
The case was deliberated on January 07, 2025, without contradictory debates, for a decision to take place for February 13, 2025. This speed in defiance of the law and human rights, obtained under the political impetus, Revealed by the press, contrasts with the heaviness at a redevelopment of refusal, observed in the application of the liberation decisions taken by the various jurisdictions in favor of our client.

Faced with these serious breaches, the lawyer for the lawyers of Mr. Ibrahima Kassory Fofana, firmly condemns the repeated violations of the rights of the defense and the irregularities that enamel this procedure.
On the eve of a verdict expected on February 13, the lawyer of lawyers urges the judicial authorities to demonstrate decency and professionalism.

The lawyer’s collective also challenges the Guinean authorities at all levels of relevant and urgent corrective measures to ban the practices of non -law of the Guinean judicial system and guarantee all the defendants impartial justice and respectful of the fundamental principles universally accepted.
Conakry, February 11, 2025.