Guinea pardons jailed opposition politician Aliou Bah

Guinean opposition politician Aliou Bah was granted a presidential pardon Friday after being jailed for insulting junta leader General Mamadi Doumbouya.

Bah was among 217 prisoners pardoned to mark Guinea’s independence day, according to a presidential decree read on state television by presidency secretary-general Amara Camara.

Bah heads the Liberal Democratic Movement, known as Model. He had been detained since December 2024 and was sentenced in January 2025 to two years in prison for “offending and insulting” the head of state. His release had not been expected until around December this year.

An appeals court upheld the sentence in May 2025, despite prosecutors seeking a five-year prison term. Bah was convicted over remarks in which he called on Guinean religious leaders to “break their silence” about the country’s political situation and described the ruling National Committee of Rally for Development as “incompetent”.

His case had also gone to the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States. In a September 25 letter, the regional court asked Guinea’s Supreme Court to order Bah’s immediate and unconditional release.

Doumbouya seized power in September 2021 after overthrowing president Alpha Conde. Rights groups and political opponents have accused Guinea’s military rulers of tightening restrictions on dissent since then.