Guinean journalist Djiba Millimono of the Hadafo Médias group was arrested on 1 October 2025 in the Conakry neighbourhood of Kipé, following a confrontation with a well-known blogger widely viewed as aligned with the military-led transitional authorities.
According to accounts from local media and witnesses, Millimono encountered the blogger, M’mahawa Kaba, popularly known as “Maya la Solution”, inside a supermarket in Kipé. During the exchange, Millimono reportedly cautioned her about a recent video she had published on the abduction of the father of exiled investigative journalist Mamoudou Babila Keïta, warning that her comments risked inflaming public sentiment. The blogger allegedly responded by accusing Millimono of opposing the junta and vowed to have him arrested.
Shortly after the exchange, officers identified as members of the Gendarmerie’s Research Brigade arrived at the scene and detained the journalist. Millimono, a former commentator on the influential programme “Les Grandes Gueules”, was subsequently transferred to the High Command of the National Gendarmerie (Haut Commandement de la Gendarmerie Nationale, HCGN) in Kaloum, where he was held in custody.
During his detention, Millimono was taken before the Kaloum District Court, which declared itself incompetent to hear the matter and returned him to the HCGN. His lawyer, Me David Béavogui, stated that the reasons for the court’s decision and the subsequent delay in processing the case remained unclear. The journalist was reportedly being investigated for “violence and public insults” resulting from the confrontation with the blogger.
Human rights organisations have condemned the arrest, describing it as indicative of a deteriorating environment for press freedom in Guinea. They note that Law 002 on press freedom, adopted in 2010, decriminalises press offences and prohibits the imprisonment of journalists for opinions expressed through their work.
Millimono was released on 8 October 2025, one week after his arrest. The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) welcomes his release and urges Guinea’s transitional authorities to ensure that such abuses against journalists cease, and that the rights to freedom of the press and freedom of expression, already under significant strain, are fully respected and restored.
