(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Communication Alpha Ibrahim Mongo Diallo, RSF made a series of recommendations to the Guinean government towards improving the press freedom situation in the country. This open letter is a follow-up to the recent visit to Guinea by an RSF delegation. After praising “the freedoms enjoyed by the […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Communication Alpha Ibrahim Mongo
Diallo, RSF made a series of recommendations to the Guinean government
towards improving the press freedom situation in the country. This open
letter is a follow-up to the recent visit to Guinea by an RSF delegation.
After praising “the freedoms enjoyed by the private media,” RSF expressed
its great surprise that Guinea is the last West African country which has
yet to liberalise its audiovisual sector. Robert Ménard, the organisation’s
secretary-general, noted the government’s obligation to end the state
monopoly: “this situation is no longer tenable in a country whose
constitution guarantees freedom of expression and press freedom.”
RSF also urged that the press law, which dates back to 1991, be liberalised.
Ménard notably recalled that this very restrictive law allows for “the
sentencing of journalists and editors-in-chief to prison terms for minor
violations of the press law.” Finally, RSF’s secretary-general asked the
minister to intervene with the relevant authorities to ensure an end to the
arrests and detentions of journalists by security forces, “in defiance of
the press law.”
