Guinea sentences 9 to death for killing politician

CONAKRY, Sep 9 (Reuters) A court in Guinea has sentenced nine people to death for the murder of a local politician in the capital Conakry, state television in the West African country said today.

Facinet Keita, head of the Ratoma district of Conakry, was found with his throat slashed in May, part of a wave of violent crime to have hit Guinea in recent months, in some cases causing vigilante groups to exact justice themselves.

Few residents have faith in the military or police. Human Rights Watch said the security forces murdered, raped, assaulted and stole from demonstrators and bystanders alike during a strike in June protesting against rice and fuel price rises.

And residents furious at the weakness of Guinea's justice system formed vigilante groups and lynched 12 suspected bandits in the jungle town of Nzerekore east of Conakry in July, plunging them into acid or burning them alive.

Almost 40 African countries retain the death penalty for crimes such as murder and around half of them have carried out executions in the past decade, according to figures from rights group Amnesty International.

REUTERS SBA PM2151