On Thursday, January 2, a two-year prison sentence was requested against Guinean opposition leader Aliou Bah, who is being tried in Conakry for “insult and defamation” of General Mamadi Doumbouya, head of the junta that overthrew President Alpha Condé in 2021. Bah, leader of the Liberal Democratic Movement (MoDel), was arrested on December 26 and imprisoned on December 30. The prosecutor in Kaloum, Conakry’s administrative and business district, made the request during the trial.
Bah denied the accusations, and his defense team called the charges “false.” His lawyer, Me Houleymatou Bah, argued in court that the case was “a trial of freedom of opinion.”
Bah’s arrest is part of a broader crackdown on dissent under the junta, which has imposed severe restrictions on freedoms. Besides Bah, two opposition figures have been missing since their detention by armed men in July. Additionally, two officers, including the former chief of staff of the army, as well as a doctor, have died in custody under unclear circumstances. On December 4, journalist Habib Marouane Camara, who runs the Lerevelateur224 website, was also arrested by armed men in Conakry, and his whereabouts remain unknown.
In his New Year’s address, General Doumbouya stated that 2025 would be a “crucial election year” for restoring constitutional order in Guinea, though he did not provide a specific date. Initially, the junta had pledged to transfer power to elected civilians by the end of 2024, but it has not honored that commitment.