Guinea teacher charged with insulting imam

Guinean teacher and civil liberties advocate Bella Bah has been charged with publicly insulting Conakry’s Grand Mosque imam and ordered held in pre-trial detention, a source close to the case told AFP on Friday.

Bah appeared before a judge on Thursday and is due to face trial on Monday. The charge concerns Mamadou Saliou Camara, chief imam of the capital’s Grand Mosque.

Bah had been reported missing last Saturday. His wife and a witness alleged he had been abducted from a Conakry school, hours after he posted a controversial social media message criticising Camara. Bah later deleted the message.

The witness told AFP that Bah was “kidnapped by men in uniform and wearing balaclavas who arrived in pick-up trucks” and was “dragged out and forcibly taken away”.

Local media reported that Camara said he forgave Bah and asked authorities for leniency.

Bah, a teacher and co-founder of private schools, is known for social media commentary on political and social issues in Guinea.

Critics of Guinea’s government are increasingly abducted or disappearing, while authorities regularly deny knowing about the incidents. Since General Mamady Doumbouya seized power in a 2021 coup, several political parties have been suspended, protests have been suppressed, and numerous opposition and civil society leaders have been arrested, sentenced or forced into exile.