President Alpha Condé’s government is not gentle with Guinea’s media. Since the start of his third term in 2016, journalists have been subjected to intimidation attempts by senior officials and repeated threats. The president often has harsh words for both the domestic and international media and for media freedom organisations. And the authorities periodically try to censor critical media on spurious administrative or judicial grounds. The accreditation of RSF and RFI’s correspondent was suspended in connection with his coverage of the role of soldiers in the death of two men, while several foreign journalists were forced to leave the country after being the targets of spurious accusations, including accusations of spying. The decriminalisation of press offences was a significant step forward for press freedom, but journalists are still occasionally arrested and sometimes held for several days. A law on access to information that was adopted in 2010 has still not been promulgated, and now journalists are concerned about a revision of the press law announced by the communication minister. Three websites, Le Lynx, the Guinée Matin newspaper’s website and Aminata.com, were suspended or threatened with suspension during the October 2020 elections.
Guinea
