A military court in Guinea-Bissau has ordered the remand of the country’s main opposition leader, Domingos Simões Pereira, in pre-trial detention over allegations linking him to an alleged coup plot and other financial offences.
According to local media reports on Friday, Pereira appeared before the military court earlier in the day before being taken under heavy security escort to the Segunda Esquadra Prison in the capital, Bissau.
Authorities accuse the leader of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) of helping to finance an attempted coup in October 2025. He is also facing separate charges bordering on financial crimes and alleged involvement in another failed coup in 2023.
Pereira was among several senior political figures detained after the military seized power in November 2025, ousting President Umaro Sissoco Embaló just days after presidential and legislative elections.
The military, which assumed control of the country for what it described as a one-year transitional period, said the takeover was necessary to prevent violence between supporters of rival political camps.
Although Pereira was later released from prison in January and placed under house arrest in Bissau, Friday’s court ruling returned him to custody pending further legal proceedings.
His legal team and the PAIGC have dismissed the allegations as politically motivated, insisting the charges are part of a campaign to prevent him from contesting the presidential election scheduled for December 6.
Guinea-Bissau has experienced chronic political instability since gaining independence in 1974, with five successful military coups and several failed takeover attempts. The recurring political crises, coupled with widespread poverty, have also fuelled corruption and strengthened the country’s reputation as a transit hub for international drug trafficking.
