DAKAR, July 24 (Reuters) – Guinea-Bissau’s military government has allowed opposition leader Domingos Simoes Pereira to leave prison and travel to Portugal for medical treatment, his family told Reuters.
• Pereira, the leader of the revolutionary PAIGC party and former prime minister, was moved back to prison earlier this month following a decision by the West African country’s military court.
• The junta that seized power in Guinea-Bissau in a coup last year had released Pereira from prison in February but kept him under house arrest on suspicion of economic crimes.
• Military leaders now accuse him of playing a role in an alleged coup attempt in October 2025. His family reject those allegations.
• They said earlier this month that no trial date had been set yet and voiced concern for his health and safety.
• The West African bloc ECOWAS urged Guinea-Bissau’s government late on Monday to unconditionally release all detained political figures including Pereira.
• “Following international pressure my uncle was ‘conditionally’ released by the military junta and he is on his way to Portugal for medical reasons,” his family representative, Italma Simoes Pereira, said late on Thursday.
• Portuguese news agency Lusa reported on Friday that Pereira had arrived in the capital Lisbon in the morning.
(Reporting by Robbie Corey-Boulet; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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