On 5 July 2022 at 2pm, Billo Bah (head of the youth section of TLP-Guinée), Oumar Sylla (alias Foniké Mengué, deputy coordinator of TLP-Guinée) and Djanii Alpha (artist and head of the FNDC's promotion of active citizenship) were violently arrested and forcibly dragged into pick-up vehicles by the second Brigade de Répression du Banditisme (BRB). At the time of their arrest, they were holding a press conference at the FNDC headquarters to comment on socio-political news relating to the latest conclusions of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). They were then taken to the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police (DCPJ).

While in police custody, Oumar Sylla and Billo Bah were accused of contempt of court and disrespect for justice, while Djanii Alpha was charged with insult. The activists will be brought before the Dixinn court of first instance later today. Prosecution proceedings had already been initiated on 4 July by the public prosecutor Charles Wright against Oumar Sylla and Billo Bah for allegedly producing and disseminating, via a computer system, statements deemed to be ‘insulting to members of the National Transition Council’.

At their hearing on Friday 8 July, court president Ousmane Simakan declared that the 3 activists were ‘not guilty of public insults, contempt of court, disturbance of public order and public security’ and ordered their release. Their release would not have been possible without the mobilisation of Guinean civil society.