(MISA/IFEX) – The following is a joint MISA and Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) alert: Following the controversial 31 December 2003 elections in Guinea, several independent journalists in the country have been harassed and intimidated for stories and comments referring to the elections. According to MFWA sources in Guinea, Sanou Kerfalla Cissé and Talibé […]
(MISA/IFEX) – The following is a joint MISA and Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) alert:
Following the controversial 31 December 2003 elections in Guinea, several independent journalists in the country have been harassed and intimidated for stories and comments referring to the elections.
According to MFWA sources in Guinea, Sanou Kerfalla Cissé and Talibé Diallo, managing editor and deputy editor-in-chief, respectively, of “Le diplomate” weekly newspaper, as well as Jean Marie Morgan, a freelance journalist, were summoned by the police special branch (DST), and interrogated for several hours on 26 December, and again on 30 December. The journalists were specifically questioned about two articles entitled, “Matam – The dice are loaded” and “Kaloum – Elections devalued”, which were published in the 23 December edition of “Le Diplomate”.
The stories reported on alleged irregularities surrounding the elections and were accompanied by pictorial illustrations of young children stuffing ballot boxes and women who had voted more than once. After several hours of interrogation, Commissioner Mamadou Camara, the DST’s chief of operations, ordered the journalists to return to their work places and wait for the DST to decide their fate.
On 27 and 29 December, the managing editor of the bi-monthly “Le Populaire” was summoned by the DST and harassed about an article entitled, “Wade preparing Conte’s exile”, published in the 25 December edition of the newspaper. The article alleged that Senegal’s President, Abdoulaye Wade, had offered his Guinean counterpart, President Lasana Conte, exile in Dakar.
The police officers who interrogated Diallo accused him of jeopardizing the country’s internal security.
The summoning of journalists by the police is a flagrant violation of the Guinean Constitution, which stipulates that the National Communications Council is the only media regulatory body mandated to summon and question media practitioners who may be in breach of the journalists’ professional code of ethics.
MFWA and MISA appeal to President Conte’s government to demonstrate greater respect for the rule of law and refrain from intimidating and arbitrarily and illegally arresting journalists in the country.
**MISA and MFWA, as a joint activity, will henceforth issue alerts, statements and appeals to highlight media freedom and wider human rights violations in West Africa. See www.misa.org and www.mediafoundationwa.org for more information**