Guinea ALERT : Journalists brutalized by police and gendarmes, others held

0
509

On May 7, 2015, anti-riot police in Guinea beat up Youssouf Bah, a freelance reporter.

The MFWA’s correspondent in Guinea reported that Bah was covering a march organised by the Guinean opposition parties in protest against the election time-table published by the country’s electoral commission.

“We are going to kill you, you journalists,” hurled a policeman, who beat up Bah before seizing his video camera, computer and photo cameras. The policeman later left with the equipment.

On the same day, a journalist with Chérie FM, Alseny Diallo, was brutalized by gendarmes at the residence of Sidya Touré, a member of the opposition party. A gendarme seized the journalist’s PC tablet and reportedly told him, “Go and lodge a complaint wherever you want, you stupid journalists”.

Yet another incident took place on May 7. Journalists covering a violent attack by the gendarmes at the residence of opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo, were also held for several hours within the latter’s residence by anti-riot policemen.