The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has called on Guinea-Bissau’s military-led government to unconditionally free all detained political figures, including opposition leader Domingos Simoes Pereira, according to a statement issued after a summit of regional heads of state in Sierra Leone.
Freeing the political prisoners would help strengthen confidence in the country’s transition process, the bloc said in a statement released late Monday. Guinea-Bissau’s current leadership seized power in a coup last November and put in place a one-year transitional charter the following month.
Pereira, who previously served as prime minister and now leads the PAIGC party, was sent back to prison on July 10, according to his family. He had originally been detained on the day of the coup, then later moved to house arrest in February in what appeared to be a gesture aimed at satisfying ECOWAS. He faces accusations of economic crimes and alleged involvement in a coup plot from October 2025, charges he rejects.
The ECOWAS statement also noted that Guinea-Bissau is scheduled to hold a constitutional referendum on August 30, followed by general elections on December 6, 2026 — though the country’s government has yet to confirm these dates itself. A government spokesperson had not responded to questions about Pereira’s case as of Tuesday.
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