<span id="midArticle_start"/>CONAKRY, April 22 (Reuters) - A court in Guinea hassentenced 11 people to life in prison for murdering a teameducating locals about the risks of Ebola in a remote part ofthe West African country last year, a state prosecutor said onWednesday.
<span id="midArticle_0"/>The bodies of eight people were discovered in September inWomey, a village near the city of Nzerekore around 1,000 km (620miles) southeast of the capital Conakry.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>Some had been hacked to death with machetes or had theirthroats slit before their bodies were thrown into latrines,witnesses at the trial in Nzerekore said.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>"There were 26 defendants. Among them, a group consisting of11 was sentenced to life in prison," said prosecutor WilliamFernandez, who had requested the death penalty for chargesincluding murder and conspiracy.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>The other 15 defendants were found innocent and released.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>The victims, who had come under attack by a stone-throwingmob in Womey before their murder, included local administrators,two medical officers, a pastor and three journalists.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>Since the Ebola virus first appeared in the forests ofGuinea over a year ago, it has killed more than 10,000 people inGuinea and neighbouring Sierra Leone and Liberia in the worstepidemic of the disease on record.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>Authorities have struggled to overcome widespread distrust,misinformation and stigma among residents, particularly inisolated areas, which have complicated efforts to contain thehighly contagious disease. (Reporting by Saliou Samb; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing byJames Macharia)
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<span id="midArticle_0"/>The bodies of eight people were discovered in September inWomey, a village near the city of Nzerekore around 1,000 km (620miles) southeast of the capital Conakry.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>Some had been hacked to death with machetes or had theirthroats slit before their bodies were thrown into latrines,witnesses at the trial in Nzerekore said.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>"There were 26 defendants. Among them, a group consisting of11 was sentenced to life in prison," said prosecutor WilliamFernandez, who had requested the death penalty for chargesincluding murder and conspiracy.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>The other 15 defendants were found innocent and released.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>The victims, who had come under attack by a stone-throwingmob in Womey before their murder, included local administrators,two medical officers, a pastor and three journalists.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>Since the Ebola virus first appeared in the forests ofGuinea over a year ago, it has killed more than 10,000 people inGuinea and neighbouring Sierra Leone and Liberia in the worstepidemic of the disease on record.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>Authorities have struggled to overcome widespread distrust,misinformation and stigma among residents, particularly inisolated areas, which have complicated efforts to contain thehighly contagious disease. (Reporting by Saliou Samb; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing byJames Macharia)
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