Bakary Gamalo Bamba, director of the bimonthly newspaper Le Baobab, was arrested on October 20, 2024, on charges of invasion of privacy after recording his conversation with a judge. He was detained in the capital’s Conakry central prison while his trial was ongoing and released after receiving a suspended sentence on December 3, 2024.
Francis Kova Zoumanigui, a judge and president of Guinea’s finance and economic crimes court (CRIEF), slapped Bamba and doused him with wine after discovering that the journalist was recording their meeting at the judge’s Conakry home, according to news reports.
At the opening of his trial on October 22, Bamba, 68, said that he recorded their discussion to accurately remember legal terms regarding a case he was investigating, he did not intend to name the judge in his report, and that he was beaten by Zoumanigui’s bodyguard on the judge’s orders, those sources said.
Zoumanigui told CPJ that Bamba did not present himself as conducting journalistic work and denied that the journalist was mistreated.
“I don’t wish him any jail time, but I had to clean up my image after the false accusations spread by the press,” Zoumanigui said, referring to reports that suggested the judge was responsible for Bamba’s detention.
On October 29, a judge rejected Bamba’s request to be freed on bail.
Bamba’s arrest violates Guinea’s press freedom law, according to the Syndicate of Press Professionals in Guinea. Under Article 132, a journalist living in Guinea cannot be preventively detained, except in six instances, which include offending the head of state and disseminating false news.
On December 3, a court in Conakry’s Kaloum area found Bamba guilty and issued a six-month suspended sentence and a fine of 1 million Guinean francs (US$115), and ordered the seizure of the phone that Bamba used to record Zoumanigui.
During 2024, CPJ noted an uptick in journalists being expelled or arrested over critical coverage in Guinea, as well as censorship of social media platforms, news sites, and broadcasters.