Reporter beaten up by President Alpha Condé’s bodyguards

”Diallo, who works for the weekly Le Populaire and the news website Aminata, was beaten repeatedly, first at the headquarters of RPG-Arc-en-Ciel, the ruling political party that President Alpha Condé continues to lead, and then at presidential guard headquarters, located inside the presidential palace.

“Such acts of arbitrary violence against journalists are absolutely unacceptable, especially when they go unpunished, as they often do.” RSF said.“We call on the authorities to identify and punish the presidential guard members responsible for this attack.”

Diallo went to the ruling party’s headquarter to cover its weekly general assembly and was stopped by a member of the presidential guard, a military unit known as the “Red Berets,” when he took a photo in the yard as President Condé was leaving.

After first asking him to delete the photo, the soldier demanded the memory card and finally seized the camera. Condé’s presence at the meeting was problematic because Article 38 of the constitution prohibits the president from participating in political party activities.’