Africa-Press. Guinea-Bissau’s military authorities have released opposition leader Domingos Simões Pereira after nearly three months of detention following the military coup that overthrew President Umaro Sissoco Embaló last November.
An Agence France-Presse correspondent reported seeing Pereira being taken to his home on the outskirts of the capital, Bissau, accompanied by security forces and Senegal’s defence minister, who was on an official visit to the country.
The coup came just days after the presidential election, with the military institution justifying its intervention as an attempt to avoid a “bloodbath” between supporters of rival candidates. Several prominent political figures were arrested, including Pereira, who had been barred from running in the election. His preferred candidate was declared the winner alongside the ousted president Embaló, who later left the country.
The November coup was the fifth in Guinea-Bissau’s history since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974, reflecting the country’s chronic political instability. The West African state faces deep-rooted challenges, most notably extreme poverty, weak governance, and political divisions, making it fertile ground for corruption and drug trafficking networks.
