Camara, a vocal critic of Guinea’s ruling junta, was intercepted by a gendarmerie pick-up truck while en route to Lambanyi, a district in the capital Conakry. /Credit: RSF
CONAKRY, Guinea – Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called on Guinean authorities to immediately clarify the circumstances surrounding the arrest and continued detention of journalist Habib Marouane Camara, managing director of the news website Le Révélateur 224, who was reportedly taken by force to an unknown location on December 3.
By Gerald C. Koinyeneh, [email protected]
Camara, a vocal critic of Guinea’s ruling junta, was intercepted by a gendarmerie pick-up truck while en route to Lambanyi, a district in the capital Conakry.
According to Le Révélateur 224, heavily armed officers smashed the windshield of his vehicle, beat him unconscious, and forcibly removed him without presenting a warrant or official summons.
His wife, Mariama Lamarana Diallo Camara, told RSF that she had been in contact with him until 8:05 p.m., just minutes before the arrest. Since then, his family and legal team have had no contact or information about his whereabouts.
“This is a brutal kidnapping, not a lawful arrest,” said Sadibou Marong, Director of RSF’s Sub-Saharan Africa Bureau. “No journalist should be arrested for doing their job — especially not with violence. We demand that the Guinean authorities reveal where Habib Marouane Camara is being held and ensure his immediate release.”
In a statement on December 4, Camara’s lawyers described the incident as an “abduction,” citing the complete absence of legal procedure or justification. They also revealed that the journalist had received threats of an imminent kidnapping days earlier, on November 27. His family, they added, had received anonymous phone calls inquiring about his whereabouts.
According to RSF, Guinea’s Minister of Information and Communication, Fana Soumah, claimed he had “no information at the moment,” adding only that “we will have to wait and see.”
The Union of Press Professionals of Guinea (SPPG) strongly condemned the incident, calling it a “kidnapping” and highlighting that it came just hours after the release of another investigative journalist, Bakary Gamalo Bamba, director of Le Baobab, who had been detained since October 15.
SPPG officials also raised the matter with Guinean Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah, who reaffirmed the government’s “commitment to preserving press freedom” but cautioned that “a single word, misplaced, can set things alight.”
Press freedom in Guinea has been under growing threat over the past year. In May, the military-led government ordered the suspension of six private media outlets — four radio stations and two television channels — without legal justification, targeting those critical of the junta’s actions.
RSF is urging the international community to hold Guinea accountable for this latest violation and to push for the safe return of Habib Marouane Camara.
