• INCIDENTS
    • Nigeria
      • South West
      • South South
      • South East
      • North Central
      • North East
      • North West
    • West Africa
      • Senegal
      • Benin Republic
      • Burkina Faso
      • Cape Verde
      • Cote d’Ivoire
      • Gambia
      • Ghana
      • Guinea
      • Guinea-Bissau
      • Liberia
      • Mali
      • Mauritania
      • Niger Republic
      • Sierra Leone
      • Togo
  • NEWS
    • Defending the Civic Space – Blog
    • AML – CFT NEWS
    • Foreign News
    • Local News
    • Videos
  • RESOURCES
    • Policy briefs
    • Restrictive legislations
    • Press statements
    • INFOGRAPHICS
    • Publications
    • Newsletters
  • ACTION GROUP
    • Join
    • Steering Committee
    • Members
    • Group Activities
    • Member Activities
  • SPECIAL CAUSES
    • COVID-19
      • General News
      • Incidents
      • Eyewitness Reports
    • #ENDSARS
      • General News
      • Missing Persons
      • Gallery
      • Trends & Hashtags
  • CSR-HUB
    • Blog
    • Upcoming Events
Menu
  • INCIDENTS
    • Nigeria
      • South West
      • South South
      • South East
      • North Central
      • North East
      • North West
    • West Africa
      • Senegal
      • Benin Republic
      • Burkina Faso
      • Cape Verde
      • Cote d’Ivoire
      • Gambia
      • Ghana
      • Guinea
      • Guinea-Bissau
      • Liberia
      • Mali
      • Mauritania
      • Niger Republic
      • Sierra Leone
      • Togo
  • NEWS
    • Defending the Civic Space – Blog
    • AML – CFT NEWS
    • Foreign News
    • Local News
    • Videos
  • RESOURCES
    • Policy briefs
    • Restrictive legislations
    • Press statements
    • INFOGRAPHICS
    • Publications
    • Newsletters
  • ACTION GROUP
    • Join
    • Steering Committee
    • Members
    • Group Activities
    • Member Activities
  • SPECIAL CAUSES
    • COVID-19
      • General News
      • Incidents
      • Eyewitness Reports
    • #ENDSARS
      • General News
      • Missing Persons
      • Gallery
      • Trends & Hashtags
  • CSR-HUB
    • Blog
    • Upcoming Events

RSF Calls for Release of Guinean Journalist Jailed for Defamation

  • Date of Occurrence
    February 25, 2021
  • Details
  • Comments 0
  • prev
  • next
  • Bookmark
  • Share
  • Report
  • Leave a review
  • prev
  • next
Image
Description

Bah was arrested at the end of his trial in Conakry on 4 February, when a court sentenced him to six months in prison and a fine of 500,000 Guinean francs (40 euros) on a charge of defaming FEGUIFOOT president Mamadou Antonio Souaré.

He was convicted over an article for the Guinee7.com news website in which he reported accusations of corruption against Souaré by an unsuccessful rival candidate for the position of FEGUIFOOT president.

At the trial, the prosecution called on the court to acquit Bah on the grounds that no crime had been committed. But, against all expectation, the judge found him guilty and imposed the six-month jail term, with the result that Bah was taken from the courtroom to Conakry prison.

“We call for this journalist’s immediate and unconditional release and we urge the authorities to comply strictly with the media law’s provisions,” said Assane Diagne, the director of RSF’s West Africa office. “This sentence clearly constitutes an illegal circumvention of the media law, which abolished prison sentences for press offences, as the justice minister recently reiterated. And furthermore, nothing in what this journalist wrote could justify such a harsh punishment.”

Journalists are often arrested and taken into police custody in Guinea, although press offences have been decriminalized since 2010.

Details
  • Date of Occurrence
    2021-02-25
  • Source
    https://rsf.org/en/rsf-calls-release-guinean-journalist-jailed-defamation
Region
  • Guinea
Rights & Freedom Violated
  • Press Freedom
Gender of Victim(s)
  • Male
Mode of Attacks
  • Forced Disappearances, Unlawful Arrests and Detention
  • Trials, Prosecution and Persecutions
  • Comments are closed.
  • You May Also Be Interested In

    Guinea: Journalist Suspended by Media Regulator

      Sep16
      • Press Freedom

      End the Harassment of Journalists and Free Expression Activists

        Jul09
        • Freedom of Expression
        • +1

        Employers of Abused Reporters Decry Lack of Redress

          Aug02
          • Press Freedom

          This site is supported by:

          FGHR-150x50
          OSF-150x50
          fh
          ford-foundation-logo-150x50

          Closing Civic Spaces is a publicly-available database on closing spaces for civic engagement and civil society in Nigeria & West Africa. Data  is compiled from public sources.

          • +234-814-500-0067
          • Lagos, Nigeria

          Stay informed

          Get incidents as they happen

          Support our campaign to protect the civil society space

          Donate Now
          Donate to Defend the Civil Society Space

          © 2019 Closing Civic Spaces by Spaces for Change. Spaces for Change is a member of the Global NPO Coalition on FATF.

          Images, texts, & other forms of content are copyright of their respective owners.

          Cart

          • Facebook
          • Twitter
          • WhatsApp
          • Telegram
          • Pinterest
          • LinkedIn
          • Tumblr
          • VKontakte
          • Mail
          • Copy link