Amadou Diallo and Mouctar Bah, local correspondents of British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Radio France International (RFI) respectively, have since September 28, 2009, escaped into hiding with their families following death threats they received from angry soldiers.
The two were among eleven journalists, violently assaulted and roughened up by the security forces in their bid to clamp down on local mass rally organised by the coalition of civil society groups and political parties in the country to protest the junta leader, Captain Mousa Dadis Camara, from contesting next year’s presidential elections.
Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)’s correspondent reported that the heavily armed soldiers stormed the homes of the two journalists but did not find them. The soldiers, who claimed Diallo and Bah have been writing negative stories about the regime to the international community, have since mounted a search for their arrests.
The correspondent quoted locally-based humanitarian workers in the country as saying: “We heard the soldiers threatening to kill the two journalists”.
However, Guineans have expressed worry about the security and safety of the journalists and their families, particularly, when the junta leader appears not be in control of the situation. “I do not control the army. It is an unstructured army that is beyond control”, he said.
For more information, please contact:
Prof. Kwame Karikari,
Executive Director
MFWA
Accra
Tel: 233-21-24 24 70
Fax: 233-21-22 10 84
Email: mfwa@africaonline.com.
Website: www.mediafound.org
Photo: Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, Guinea’s military leader.
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