Guinea teacher gets one month in jail over imam insult

A Guinean court on Wednesday sentenced teacher and civil rights advocate Abdourahmane Bella Bah to six months in jail, five of them suspended, for insulting and defaming Conakry’s Grand Mosque imam through a computer system.

The ruling means Bah faces one month in jail. The court also ordered him to pay a fine of 40 million Guinean francs, about $4,662, and ordered the closure of his Facebook account “Bella Bah”.

Bah, a teacher and co-founder of private schools, is known for social media commentary on political and social issues in Guinea. He was charged and detained on August 13 after being reported missing five days earlier.

His wife and a witness said he had been abducted while at his school in Conakry. His arrest came hours after he posted a message on social media criticising Mamadou Saliou Camara, chief imam of the capital’s Grand Mosque. Bah later deleted the post.

Bah told the court he had not targeted the imam directly, but religious leaders in general. Camara had said he did not want to file a complaint against Bah, had forgiven him and had asked authorities to release him.

Bah’s lawyer, Alseny Aissata Diallo, said he planned to appeal.

The case comes amid a wider crackdown in Guinea since General Mamady Doumbouya seized power in a 2021 coup. Several political parties have been suspended, protests have been suppressed, and opposition and civil society figures have been arrested, sentenced or forced into exile.