africatodayonline.blogspot.com -
Eleven people were jailed for life for murdering eight workers last year as they educated locals about the Ebola virus in Guinea, West Africa.
Prosecutors had called for the death penalty after the victims’ bodies were found last September in Womey, a village near the city of Nzerekore, around 600 miles south-east of capital Conakry.
Some had been hacked to death with machetes or had their throats slit before their bodies were thrown into latrines, witnesses at the trial in Nzerekore said.
Prosecutor William Fernandez, who had requested the death penalty for charges including murder and conspiracy, said: ”There were 26 defendants. Among them, a group consisting of 11 was sentenced to life in prison.”
The other 15 defendants were found innocent and released.
The victims, who had come under attack by a stone-throwing mob in Womey before their murder, included local administrators, two medical officers, a pastor and three journalists.
Since Ebola first appeared in the country's forests more than a year ago, it has killed more than 10,000 people in Guinea and neighbouring Sierra Leone and Liberia.
This makes it the worst epidemic of the disease on record.
Authorities have struggled to overcome the widespread distrust, misinformation and stigma among residents, particularly in isolated areas, which have hampered efforts to contain the highly contagious disease.
