Guinea junta bans media for 'misconduct'

By AFP

Guinea's junta on Saturday justified its banning of some major TV and radio stations this week by saying they were guilty of "frequent misconduct" and violating "human dignity".

The military-led government on Wednesday announced it had withdrawn the operating licences of radio stations FIM FM, Radio Espace FM, Sweet FM and Djoma FM as well as Djoma TV.

The move was the latest in a string of restrictions imposed on media by the junta which seized power in the West African country in a 2021 coup.

"The misconduct was regularly monitored," said a statement signed by government spokesman Ousmane Gaoual Diallo dated Friday and published on Saturday.

The text said the stations violated "the obligation to respect human dignity and the demands of national unity and public order".

The government said the licence withdrawals only affected a few of the country's 88 radio 14 television stations.

The three media groups affected by the measures condemned "oppressive behaviour" by the military in a joint statement received by AFP on Friday.

Four private radio stations have been constantly jammed since November, three private television channels are virtually inaccessible, and at least three news sites were blocked for several weeks in 2023, according to media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Guinea is ranked 78th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2024 World Press Freedom Index.