CONAKRY, Guinea – Reporters With out Borders (RSF) has referred to as on Guinean authorities to instantly make clear the circumstances surrounding the arrest and continued detention of journalist Habib Marouane Camara, managing director of the information web site Le Révélateur 224, who was reportedly taken by power to an unknown location on December 3.
By Gerald C. Koinyeneh, [email protected]
Camara, a vocal critic of Guinea’s ruling junta, was intercepted by a gendarmerie pick-up truck whereas en path to Lambanyi, a district within the capital Conakry.
In response to Le Révélateur 224, closely armed officers smashed the windshield of his car, beat him unconscious, and forcibly eliminated him with out presenting a warrant or official summons.
His spouse, Mariama Lamarana Diallo Camara, advised RSF that she had been involved with him till 8:05 p.m., simply minutes earlier than the arrest. Since then, his household and authorized crew have had no contact or details about his whereabouts.
“This can be a brutal kidnapping, not a lawful arrest,” stated Sadibou Marong, Director of RSF’s Sub-Saharan Africa Bureau. “No journalist must be arrested for doing their job — particularly not with violence. We demand that the Guinean authorities reveal the place Habib Marouane Camara is being held and guarantee his instant launch.”
In an announcement on December 4, Camara’s legal professionals described the incident as an “abduction,” citing the entire absence of authorized process or justification. In addition they revealed that the journalist had acquired threats of an imminent kidnapping days earlier, on November 27. His household, they added, had acquired nameless cellphone calls inquiring about his whereabouts.
In response to RSF, Guinea’s Minister of Info and Communication, Fana Soumah, claimed he had “no info in the meanwhile,” including solely that “we must wait and see.”
The Union of Press Professionals of Guinea (SPPG) strongly condemned the incident, calling it a “kidnapping” and highlighting that it got here simply hours after the discharge of one other investigative journalist, Bakary Gamalo Bamba, director of Le Baobab, who had been detained since October 15.
SPPG officers additionally raised the matter with Guinean Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah, who reaffirmed the federal government’s “dedication to preserving press freedom” however cautioned that “a single phrase, misplaced, can set issues alight.”
Press freedom in Guinea has been below rising risk over the previous yr. In Might, the military-led authorities ordered the suspension of six personal media shops — 4 radio stations and two tv channels — with out authorized justification, concentrating on these important of the junta’s actions.
RSF is urging the worldwide neighborhood to carry Guinea accountable for this newest violation and to push for the secure return of Habib Marouane Camara.
