Editor Abdoul Latif Diallo suspected the shooting was linked to stories that he had recently written on the alleged involvement of senior members of the police in the murder of the head of the Treasury Department of Guinea.
This statement was originally published on rsf.org on 6 February 2018.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns last week’s shooting attack on the home of Abdoul Latif Diallo, the editor of the Dépêche Guinée news website, and calls for a prompt investigation by Guinea’s authorities in order to identify those responsible.
Around ten shots were fired at Diallo’s home in a northern suburb of Conakry on the night of 31 January 2018. Diallo told RSF that he had received death threats a few days before the attack and that he thought he was the target of the shots, which went through his living room.
He said he was not able to identify those responsible for the shooting or the threats, but he thought they were linked to sensitive stories he recently covered. One of his recent articles was about the alleged involvement of senior members of the national gendarmerie in the murder of the head of the treasury department in November 2012. One of these senior officers, Gen. Ibrahima Baldé, tried to contact Diallo in order to “negotiate,” but Diallo refused.
“Any form of intimidation or threat designed to prevent journalists from doing their job is completely unacceptable,” RSF said. “The Guinean authorities much launch an investigation without delay in order to shed light on this attack and on the death threats. They have a duty to guarantee the safety of journalists, who must be able to do investigative reporting with complete freedom and without being subjected to any pressure.”
Diallo filed a complaint against persons unknown but so far there has been no reaction from the police and judicial authorities or from the High Council for Communication. He said he would nonetheless “not be discouraged” and would continue his investigative reporting “despite everything.”
Guinea is ranked 101st out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2017 World Press Freedom Index.
