Guinea media regulators jailed over junta bribery claim

Conakry, Guinea — Two media regulators in Guinea were sentenced Thursday to eight months in prison after claiming the heads of popular outlets were bribed by the ruling military, their lawyer said.

The ruling followed months of a junta-led crackdown on media freedom across Guinea that saw four private radio stations and two private television channels banned in May.

Djene Diaby and Tawel Camara — two of the 13 commissioners of Guinea’s media regulator, the High Authority for Communication — were also fined 1 million Guinean francs ($116) each, lawyer Kemoko Malick Diakite told reporters.

He said that he intended to appeal.

During the trial, prosecutor Mohamed Bangoura called for a one-year sentence, saying that the commissioners committed "very serious" acts.

One of the defense lawyers, Bakary Millimouno, asked the court for leniency, describing his clients as "first-time offenders."

In comments to reporters on June 12, Diaby and Camara accused the owners of the now-banned media organizations of receiving money from the junta in return for favorable coverage.

However, those media organizations continued to criticize the junta, which led to them being banned last month, the commissioners claimed.

Diaby and Camara were charged with defamation against the head of state and detained in Conakry's central prison, their colleague Amadou Toure told AFP.

The two commissioners appeared in court in Conakry Wednesday where they apologized and said they had no proof of their claims.

In her earlier contested comments, recorded and published on social media, Diaby said she had "no compassion" for the media bosses.

"Each one of them got money ... at the presidency. Each one of them signed," Diaby said.

Both commissioners also described junta members as indifferent to legality and capable of anything to retain power.

The High Authority for Communication suspended Diaby and Camara for "gross misconduct" on June 13.

The directors of the Hadafo Medias, Djoma Media and Frequence Medias groups said they were lodging a complaint against the two officials. Their media outlets are among the radio and TV stations whose licenses were withdrawn by the authorities on May 22.

Opposition voices have been largely stifled since the colonels seized power in a 2021 coup, overthrowing elected President Alpha Conde.