In February, the National Communication Council, an official regulatory body known by its French acronym, CNC, suspended the private bimonthly newspaper Les Echos for two months and banned two of its journalists from working during that time. The council cited "the publication of false news and an attack on the honor and dignity" of a government minister, Kiridi Bangoura. Bangoura brought a complaint against the paper after it published an article accusing him of "becoming rich off the back of Guineans."

The CNC suspended the semimonthly private newspaper L'Enquêteur for two months for publishing allegedly "tendentious and unfounded information" that could endanger national security. The offending article spoke of divisions among senior government leaders, corruption, and a lack of political dialogue, according to a CPJ source. The suspension was imposed in April.

Guinea became the last country in the West African subregion to allow private broadcasting. The CNC allocated frequencies in August to the country's first two private radio stations, ending a 48-year-long state broadcasting monopoly. Legislation liberalizing the airwaves was passed in December 2005.

Managing Director Ibrahima Sory Dieng and Editor-in-Chief Alhassane Souare of the state-owned newspaper Horoya were suspended indefinitely in October by Minister of Information Aboubacar Sylla for not publishing a photograph of President Lassana Conte. According to news reports, the photograph was supposed to have appeared alongside the president's speech in the Independence Day edition of the paper.

Disclaimer: © Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ.

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.