Moussa Tiegboro Camara, a colonel in Guinea's former junta, has been charged for his role in a 2009 massacre of protesters against the then-military rulers, the justice ministry said Thursday.

"I confirm that Moussa Tiegboro Camara has been charged for his alleged role in the September 28, 2009 massacre," justice ministry spokesman Ibrahima Beavogui told reporters.

He said a commission of judges investigating the affair had charged Colonel Tiegboro Camara last week, and he again appeared in front of the panel on Wednesday. The accused has denied all charges against him. Beavogui said the judicial procedure was still underway and Camara had not yet been found guilty.

Important step
While described by rights groups as a minister in the presidency in charge of fighting drug trafficking and organized crime, a member of his entourage and official source said he heads up the agency, but does not have ministerial status.

Human Rights Watch on Thursday welcomed the charges as "an important step toward ensuring justice for the victims."

157 killed
Colonel Moussa Tiegboro Camara is the highest-level official to be charged in relation to the September 28 massacre in which 157 people were killed and scores of women raped when troops descended on an opposition protest. Thousands had gathered in a Conakry stadium to voice opposition against Moussa Dadis Camara's military junta.

Sexual violence
In a HRW report released several months after the massacre, Tiegboro Camara was implicated as "among those most responsible for the serious crimes committed."

In a statement Thursday, HRW said: "Tiegboro Camara and gendarmes in his unit entered the stadium together with members of the Presidential Guard. "Some of the gendarmes in his unit took an active part in the massacre, and, to a lesser degree, in the sexual violence that followed."

Corinne Dufka, senior West Africa researcher for HRW praised the "courageous work of the judges."

First-ever democratic election
As Guinea struggled to hold its first-ever democratic election in 2010, with many implicated in the massacre appointed into top positions by President Alpha Conde, concerns were raised over lack of progress in investigating the massacre.

Three Guinean magistrates were in February 2010 tasked with investigating the massacre. HRW said in addition to Tiegboro Camara, at least two other men have been charged.

Source: AFP