In Côte d’Ivoire, the second day of Amadé Ouéremi’s trial before Abidjan’s criminal court. This human smuggler from the West Ivory Coast is suspected of being one of the architects of the massacre in the Carrefour district of Duékoué on March 28 and 29, 2011, during which more than 800 people were killed during the capture of the city by pro-Ouattara. forces. This Thursday, a dozen witnesses were heard.
as reported from Abidjan, Pierre Pinto
ON the opening of debates, the president asks a clear question to the accused: “Who ordered the attack on Carrefour?”, “It is Losseni Fofana”, answers Amadé Ouérémi, thus incriminating “Loss”, one of the most important rebels in power in the West, and as orchestrated his arrest in 2013.
At the helm, Amadé Ouérémi confirms that he did not participate to the murders on March 28 and 29, 2011 and that he stayed. He repeats that he is a simple “element” in the group of Lieutenant Coulibaly de Kouibly, himself under the command of “Loss”.
A militia leader
However, most of the 11 interviewed witnesses present Amadé Ouérémi as a militia leader who feared for several years in the region, from a small mechanic to a rich planter and a feared human trafficker. Everyone accuses his men abuse in Carrefour at the end of March 2011. Soldiers who, after surrounding the neighborhood, allegedly stormed it, looting, raping, murdering men and boys.
Before the war, “when his wives went out into the city, they were always accompanied by several armed men,” testifies a pastor whose teenage son was murdered during the massacre.
Resumed on April 1
Looking back on the days of March 28 and 29, a witness said: “I saw him perform his operations in person. He had four men to protect him. I’m sure it was him. “Amadé Ouérémi still denies it.
The trial will resume on Wednesday, April 1.
►Also to listen: Côte d’Ivoire: in Duékoué, “martyr city”, neither forgetting nor forgiving
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