Elhadj Mohamed Conté, Prefect of Fria, a mining town about 160 kilometres to the North of Conakry, the capital, on September 18, 2012 stormed the studios of La Voix de Fria, a privately-owned radio station and interrupted the broadcast of a radio programme. The Media Foundation for West Africa’s (MFWA) correspondent reported that, Conté carried out his act while Alassane Sidibé, host of the programme, ‘Listeners- Have Your Say,’ was on air with Alhassane Sylla, a sociologist and radio consultant.
According to the correspondent, Conté burst into the studio, hit the head of Sylla and threw them out while ordering the technicians to stop the programme. “We were having a programme called ‘Listeners, Have your Say.’ The subject was on Prime Minister Mohamed Saïd Fofana’s unfulfilled promises. At about 9:30am, the prefect entered the studio. As soon as he got into the doorway, he threw out the first journalist and hit the head of the guest…” – Sidibe recounted. The behaviour of Conté has attracted a lot of condemnation mainly from the residents of Fria, who are against such attacks on press freedom.
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