Guinea: 17 arrested over journalist's death

Guinea has arrested 17 members of the country’s main opposition party over the death of a journalist a week ago in the capital, Conakry.

Following the killing of El Hadj Mohamed Diallo, a reporter for the Guinee7.com news website, authorities in the West African country began conducting investigations.

According to Salifou Beavogui, a party lawyer, the 17 members were placed into police custody in a hasty and untimely manner.

“They have been questioned and re-questioned. They have been called back frequently since Tuesday. And after all the coming and going, it was on Thursday at 1600 (GMT) that they were arrested,” he told AFP.

33-year-old Diallo was gunned down during a scuffle between supporters of Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG) leader Cellou Dalein Diallo and supporters of Mamadou Bah Oury, the party’s former deputy leader.

Oury, a founding member of the party, is said to have attempted to enter UFDGs headquarters after being ejected earlier from a leadership meeting.

Earlier in the week, the country held a ‘press free day’ in honour of Diallo. News organisations carried out a media black out also to highlight the plight of journalists in the country.