"We were ordered to leave the cells and go home, but nine of us stayed there," said one of the detainees on Saturday.

Mostly young people, they all came with bags in their hands, where they had some belongings, namely bowls that their relatives used to send them food.

Lined up in front of the 2nd Police Station in the capital, the activists debated how they were going to get to their homes since their relatives had not been notified about the possibility of their release.

"They told us to leave, but to come back at 10:00 on Monday [11:00 in Lisbon] to collect our mobile phones," reported a young woman.

Questioned about who remained in the cells, the young people pointed to Armando Lona "and others" considered by the police to be the ringleaders of the Frente Popular, a platform that brings together youth associations, unions and women's organizations, and which promoted Saturday's demonstrations.

The activists confirmed that the police only ordered them to leave the cells in compliance with "higher orders", without revealing who gave those orders.

The young people promised that in the coming days they will continue the fight, "first for the unconditional release" of all detainees and "then for the denunciation" of what happened during their detention at the 2nd Police Station.

The Frente Popular, led by journalist and political activist Fernando Lona, promoted a demonstration on Saturday throughout Guinea-Bissau and in some Guinean communities in the diaspora to denounce the regime in force in the country.

With the motto "against violence and destruction of democracy", the Frente Popular called for a "mega peaceful demonstration" to "rescue democracy" in Guinea-Bissau.

The promoters consider that the country is living "in an absolutist context" with the regime of President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, who dissolved the parliament and the government of the majority PAI- Terra Ranka and appointed a government of presidential initiative.

Saturday's demonstration was repressed by police forces, who dispersed any gathering of people from the early hours of the day.

Read Also: Frente Popular in Guinea-Bissau questions silence in the face of arbitrariness (Portuguese version)