More than four months after the opening of the trial of the September 28, 2009 massacre, the father of Aboubacar Sidiki Diakité, one of the main defendants, has broken his silence.By Aboubacar Siddy Diallo

 At his home in Behanzin, a district of the town of Matoto, on the outskirts of Conakry, Mamadi Diakité, welcomed us in a modest setting. 

The old man, a retired army colonel and former bodyguard of the first president of independent Guinea, Ahmed Sékou Touré, is killing time in a hammock, playing with his grandsons. 

It’s a way for him to summarily forget the ‘sad’ fate of his son.

 Mamadi Diakité, aged over 80, is the father of Aboubacar Sidiki Diakité, known as Toumba, one of the main defendants in the September 28 massacre in 2009 at the stadium bearing the same name. 

The trial is held before the criminal court of Dixinn, Conakry and sees a dozen defendants, including the former head of the junta, Moussa Dadis Camara whose interrogation ended Tuesday, January 25.

 Camera’s former aide-de-camp, Toumba Diakité appeared last October and denied being the mastermind of the tragic events of September 28 2009 that left 157 people dead and a dozen women raped, according to a United Nations count.

 His father, who is following the trial from afar in front of his television set, is no less convinced.

 “Toumba is presented as the enemy of the people, everyone blames him for shooting, only God knows, but he is not guilty. He would never do that,” he tries to sound convincing. 

“Never, never, never is my son guilty,” the old man insists.

 To exonerate his son, he relies on the character traits of the accused, who is “someone who is truthful” and “respectful of human life.” 

Indeed, he pleads, the former aide-de-camp has “demonstrated since the beginning of his appearance” that he is in no way involved in what he is accused of.

 Indicating that he trusts the judges who he sees as “thoughtful people,” the octogenarian nevertheless crosses his fingers and prays to God to ‘save’ his son.