A journalist with the Guinean state broadcaster, Radio Télévision Guinéenne (RTG), Boulbinet Mamoudou Diallo, has been assaulted by bodyguards of a top official of a leading football club.
The incident occurred on March 19, 2017 at the end of a CAF Champions League match between Horaya FC of Guinea and Esperance of Tunisia at the 28th September Stadium in Conakry.
The MFW’S correspondent in Guinea said that as soon as the match ended, some altercation broke out between some police officers and bodyguards of Anthio Souare, president of Horoya and newly-elected President of the Federation of Guinean Football (FEGUIFOOT).
Diallo told a local online news portal flashguinee.net that the General Manager of Horoya FC, Hassane Sylla, alerted Souare’s bodyguards that he (Diallo) was filming their scuffle with the police officers.
“That was when they rushed right towards me, pounced on me and seized my two phones from my hands,” Diallo narrated.
The journalist says the attack attracted the attention of his colleague journalists who protested vehemently to the Horoya officials and demanded the return of the phones.
“To calm tensions, Anthonio Souare personally intervened and promised to replace the phones if they got lost. I retorted immediately that I needed my phones on the spot. He then went and retrieved the phones for me,” Diallo said.
The MFWA condemns the attack on the sports journalist and calls on all actors (state and non-state) to respect the mandate of the media in news gathering and reporting.
