Journalist shot dead in Guinea

A journalist from the online media Guinee 7 was shot dead in the Guinean capital, Conakry, on Friday 5 February. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), representing 600,000 journalists across the world, joins its affiliate in Guinea, the Association des Journalists de Guinée (AJG), in calling for an independent investigation into the killing and the perpetrator(s) to be brought to justice. Journalist Elhadj Mamadou Diallo, 30, was shot while covering a meeting of the main opposition party, the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG). According to the Reuters News Agency, Diallo was killed at the headquarters of the UFDG when violence broke out between supporters, as the Founding member of the party, Oury Bah “who was expelled from the party earlier in the day” tried to make his entry into the party headquarters. “ It was not immediately clear who killed Diallo, though some witnesses said that the shot was fired by a UFDG member.” “Too often, journalists are killed in Africa with blanket impunity,” said IFJ President, Jim Boumelha. “Diallo was murdered in the course of his work and those responsible must be brought to justice. The Guinean Government must not leave any stone unturned in investigating this murder and must ensure that the perpetrator(s) are apprehended immediately.”

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