The Sub-Saharan Africa desk of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Sub-Saharan Africa hold protest in Dakar in solidarity with Guinea's media.
This statement was originally published on rsf.org on 27 June 2024.
After demonstrating in support of journalists in Conakry in March, the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Sub-Saharan Africa desk protested in Dakar on 27 June, calling on Mamadi Doumbouya’s government to end their completely repressive policies, including the censorship of six media outlets. Supporting partners included Mohamed Mara, director of Espace FM, one of the censored media, who traveled from Conkary to join the rally.
“Stop media censorship in Guinea!” Despite the security forces blocking RSF’s protest in front of the Guinean embassy in Dakar on 27 June, the rally in support of the Guinean press continued a few streets away.
The protest, which united multiple press freedom organisations – ARTICLE 19, the Coordination des associations de presse (CAP, Coordination of Press Associations), the Convention des jeunes reporters du Sénégal (CJRS, Convention of Young Reporters in Senegal), and around fifteen journalists – denounced the Guinean government’s censorship of media outlets Djoma TV, Djoma FM, Espace FM, Espace TV, Sweet FM and FIM FM. A banner in support of these six independent media was held high.
Mohamed Mara, the managing director of the banned radio station Espace FM, travelled from Conakry to represent the three media groups behind the banned outlets. “We, the censored media, are portrayed as extreme […]. All we do is seek out information, cross-check it, and share it with the people, who have the right to be informed,” he declared, before deploring the economic situation of his media’s journalists, “driven from their homes or forced to leave the capital” for lack of funds.
With this protest in Dakar – where the Guinean media’s problems are a concern for everyone – we wanted to remind the Guinean minister of information and communication, whom we met in Conakry three months ago, that RSF will not give up. It is unacceptable that six media outlets are being censored, that nearly 1,000 professionals found themselves out of work overnight, and that the public is being deprived of its right to diverse sources of information. We’re protesting in support of our colleagues, and for the media whose licences have been revoked, which is a total violation of the law. The Guinean authorities must be held accountable for their actions and for their broken promises to respect press freedom.
Sadibou Marong, Director of RSF’s Sub-Saharan Africa desk
During the demonstration, RSF distributed flyers detailing the Guinean authorities’ recent censorship of the independent media.
On 21 May, two private television stations and four private radio stations were banned from broadcasting after an official decree revoked their operating licences. This decision was taken without any prior warning and in violation of the law, and it led to the loss of around one thousand jobs in the press industry.
RSF denied access to the Guinean embassy
Security forces initially granted RSF’s request to deliver a letter, addressed to the Guinean prime minister, to ambassador Mandjou Dioubaté, yet ultimately prevented RSF’s team from approaching the embassy.
On 18 June, RSF called on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to take action to ensure that the Guinean authorities put an end to censorship, following the Ministry of Communication’s repressive decision to withdraw the operating licences of six private media outlets.
In March 2024, an RSF delegation met with officials in Conakry to discuss this worrying situation for the future of the press in Guinea. At the time, the prime minister and the minister of information and communication promised to promote dialogue with the media concerned, expressing a desire to “calm the situation.”
