A Guinean court will rule on Wednesday in the trial of ex-dictator Moussa Dadis Camara over a 2009 massacre in which more than 150 people were killed and scores of women raped.
On September 28, 2009, and in the following days, members of Camara's presidential guard, soldiers, police and militia brutally suppressed an opposition rally at a stadium in the suburbs of the capital Conakry.
In one of the darkest chapters in the West African nation's history, the forces of order killed at least 156 people, wounded hundreds more and raped 109 women, according to an UN-mandated commission of inquiry.
Victims have been waiting 15 years for justice, fearing a trial would never take place. It was finally brought before a court under the military rulers who seized power in 2021.
"This trial is of the utmost importance to me. I want these soldiers to pay a heavy price with sentences befitting their crimes," said Kadiatou Sow, who told AFP she was raped during the massacre and its aftermath.
Sow also lost her husband, whose body was never found.
- Crimes against humanity -
Along with 11 other government and military officials, Dadis Camara is accused of murder, sexual violence, torture, abduction and kidnapping.
Dadis Camara always denied any responsibility, blaming his subordinates.
The ex-dictator's landmark trial -- which began on September 28, 2022 -- has gripped the West African nation, with the courtroom's drama beamed to the nation's televisions and radios.
Judges heard from 11 defendants -- who blamed each other for the massacre during the trial -- as well as a dozen witnesses. Around 100 victims provided chilling testimonies.
Asmaou Diallo, president of an association of the massacre's victims and their relatives, told AFP their eyes would all be fixed on the judge come Wednesday.
"We really expect the truth and for light to be shed with this verdict," Diallo said.
The chief prosecutor called for Dadis Camara and the six other defendants to be sentenced to life in prison.
He also requested the charges against them be classified as crimes against humanity -- which the judges said they would not rule on until the verdict.
- 'Moment of truth' -
Pleading for the defendants' acquittal, the defence lawyers argue that reclassifying the charges on the day of the ruling would rob them of an opportunity to defend themselves and infringe their right to a fair trial.
Both the accused and the plaintiffs will have 15 days to appeal the verdict. The prosecutor's office will have two months.
Tamara Aburamadan, an international justice legal counsel for Human Rights Watch, called the upcoming verdict "a long-awaited moment of truth for the victims and their families".
But the trial has taken place against a background of repression of both the opposition to Guinea's military rulers and the media.
The day before the verdict, protests against the "forced disappearance" of pro-democracy activists Oumar Sylla and Mamadou Billo Bah paralysed parts of Conakry, with several injured in clashes between demonstrators and the police.
Though the authorities deny holding the pair, civil society organisations say they are being held incommunicado and have called for further demonstrations on the day of the verdict and the day after.
International organisations and human rights activists have highlighted the trial's unprecedented nature in Guinea.
It is the first of its kind to challenge the impunity of the country's security forces, which are seldom held to account, according to the UN probe.