00:00The former president of Guinea's constitutional court, Mohamed Lamin Bangura, has been sentenced
00:06to seven years in prison by an anti-graft court. It convicted him of illicit enrichment,
00:12corruption, embezzlement of over $20 million in public funds and money laundering. Bangura
00:18was also sentenced to a heavy fine and substantial damages to be paid to the state, jointly with
00:23his two co-defendants, who both fugitives. The case against him is in connection to the
00:28management of money allocated to the constitutional court when he was its head. He was among
00:33approximately 180 high-ranking officials and former ministers from the administration
00:38of ex-president Alpha Conde to be targeted by the court. Conde was overthrown in a 2021 coup that
00:45brought Mamadi Dumbuya to power. He first ruled as Janta chief before being elected president last
00:50year in a vote with no substantial opposition. The country's opposition has denounced the
00:55suppression of freedoms and alleges the judicial system is being weaponized under Dumbuya's rule.
