Ibrahima Kassory Fofana, who served as Guinea's former prime minister until a 2021 military coup faces a charge of having misused public funds. The then defence and environment ministers -- Mohamed Diane and Oye Guilavogui -- face the same charge.

All three men were charged in April 2022 and taken into custody, but none of them appeared in court on Wednesday, an AFP correspondent noted.

The judge at the special court for financial crimes (CRIEF) postponed the trial of Kossary Fofana and Diane until March 20, and that of Guilavogui to March 22.

The court handling the case was set up by the military following the coup, and in an open letter seen by AFP Tuesday, Kassory Fofana denounced "a targeted and selective witch hunt".

Alleging procedural flaws and a lack of evidence against him, he said he would not go before a judge in the current conditions.

Colonel Mamady Doumbouya who led the coup and has since assumed the presidency, has insisted there is no "witch hunt", but has promised to make the fight against corruption a priority.

After pressure from the West African bloc, he has promised to hand over power to civilian rule within two years, starting from January 2023.