Guinea court jails eight foreign gold miners and frees one man
The Dixinn court in Conakry sentenced eight Togolese and Burkinabe men to two years in prison and banned all nine from Guinean territory for five years.
On Tuesday 10 November, the Dixinn first-instance court in Conakry convicted eight of nine defendants, two Togolese and seven Burkinabe nationals arrested in Siguiri, for illegal gold panning. The court sentenced each of the eight to two years in prison. The ninth defendant, Adama Tindreogo, was cleared of gold mining and environmental destruction but was jailed for one year for illegal stay and false statements.
Eight of the nine admitted panning gold in the Siguiri area. Most had been in Guinea for less than a year, some for only two weeks. Emmanuel Kemite, a Togolese defendant, told the court the miners sleep in the open between the pits. Harouna Ganame said he left Burkina Faso after jihadist attacks to look for work. Tindreogo said he sells phones and accessories in Conakry and denied any link to the sites.
The court also barred all nine convicted men from the whole of Guinean territory for five years. The prosecutor had asked for five years in prison and a 10-year ban with expulsion. He cited deforestation, polluted rivers and health risks from clandestine gold mining.
Why it mattersThe nine men face two-year and one-year prison terms and a five-year ban from Guinea, so foreign migrant workers in the gold areas face deportation risk.