Timeline: A year of bloody protests in Guinea

Veteran Guinea President Alpha Conde’s hugely controversial bid to extend his grip on power for a third term has sparked a year of harshly repressed protests in the West African country, costing dozens of lives. The octogenarian incumbent’s candidacy was confirmed after a referendum in March – a vote that raised concerns that Guinea will follow in the footsteps of other African nations whose rulers refuse to cede power. Conde faces former prime minister and main opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo in Sunday’s vote. Opposition parties had organised widespread street protests against the referendum, which were met with a harsh crackdown by security forces. Guinea’s President Alpha Conde is running for a third term [File: Benoit Tessier/Reuters]A timeline of the protests: Protests start On October 7, 2019, an opposition coalition, the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC), which includes trade unions and civil society groups, calls for demonstrations against an eventual third term in office for Conde. The opposition suspects that Conde, 82, wants to change the constitution to allow him to stand again in 2020. Enormous demonstrations On October 14, on the first day of protests, five people are shot dead in clashes in the capital, Conakry, between police and protesters, according to the opposition. A small number of people took part in scattered demonstrations, but security was out in force, breaking up makeshift barricades and making some arrests as protesters burned tyres and threw stones. Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque, reporting from Conakry, said the usually bustling city centre resembled a ghost town, with most people choosing to stay indoors to avoid danger. On the first day of protests five people were shot dead in the capital Conakry [File: Cellou Binani/AFP]Several other enormous demonstrations follow, organised by the FNDC, sometimes involving tens of thousands of people. While the opposition says its movement is peaceful, Conde accuses it of seeking to sow disorder and cracks down harshly on protests. Amnesty International denounces the excessive use of force by the security services, bans on peaceful demonstrations, arbitrary arrests and cases of torture. ‘Constitutional coup’ In December, Conde announces a new draft constitution. Opponents say the draft was crafted to get around the country’s two-term presidential limit and denounces a “constitutional coup”. In January 2020, the opposition urges Guineans “to mobilise massively and everywhere”. Clashes break out between protesters and security forces in several towns across the country. Police headquarters are ransacked and official buildings attacked. style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;">