Guinea arrests opposition leader for 'insulting' interim president

A Guinean opposition leader has been arrested and taken into custody for allegedly "insulting" the head of the military government in power since 2021, his lawyer and party told AFP on Friday.

Aliou Bah, who heads the Liberal Democratic Movement (MoDel), was arrested on Thursday as he travelled to neighbouring Sierra Leone with two colleagues.

"Mr Bah is a real prisoner of conscience," lawyer Antoine Pepe Lamah said. "His only crime is criticism of the state in the face of the resurgence of kidnappings and forced disappearances."

Human rights groups also denounced his detention.

Military takeover

General Mamady Doumbouya rose to power after overthrowing the civilian president Alpha Conde in a 2021 coup.

Two opposition figures have been missing since they were arrested in July, while an ex-army chief of staff, the former number two of the military government and a doctor have died in unclear circumstances in recent months.

A journalist from the Lerevelateur224 website was arrested earlier this month by men in uniform in the suburbs of the capital, Conakry, and his whereabouts are unknown, his lawyers and a press union said.

The Guinea opposition has accused the government of rights violations.

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