A Swiss appeals court has upheld a guilty verdict against the mining magnate Beny Steinmetz who was sentenced two years ago on corruption charges for payments to obtain permits in Guinea.
The West African country has the world’s richest untapped deposits of iron ore.
Mr Steinmetz and two others were found guilty of paying or arranging the payment of more than $8m (£6.4m) worth of bribes to a wife of the former Guinean President Lansana Conté between 2006 and 2010.
All three defendants denied the charges.
The judges at the appeals court sentenced them to three years in prison.
Mr Steinmetz’s conviction for forgery was overturned. He said he would appeal the corruption verdict in Switzerland’s highest court.
Credit: Will Ross, Africa editor, BBC World Service
