Guinea Bissau: Coup Plotters Released
By MISNA
Guinea Bissau former navy chief, Rear Admiral José Americo Bubo Na Tchuto, arrested late last year in connection to the coup last December against the Premier Carlos Gomes Junior, was released.
According to the local media, the former navy chief was freed Thursday and is currently at his home. Bubo Na Tchuto was released along with another five officers, also detained in connection to the failed coup. Local MISNA sources refer that the motives of their release have not been disclosed.
Bubo Na Tchuto was the highest ranking officer of the coup plotters, who on December 26 attempted to overthrow the government. Doubts however still remain on the episode and some observers believe that it wasn’t a coup, but a retaliation within the armed forces.
The scenario in Guinea Bissau has however entirely changed since. On April 12, soldiers headed by the army chief, General Antonio Indjai, successfully carried out a coup. The coup came a few weeks ahead of the second round of the presidential vote, forcing the interim President Raimundo Pereira and Carlos Gomes Junior to leave the country. Gomes, who was supposed to face the opposition figure Koumba Yala in the runoff, was widely favoured as the next president of Guinea Bissau.
