Politician Storms Radio Station, Punches Studio Guest And Rudely Disrupts Show

There was drama last Tuesday when a well-known politician, stormed into the studios of a private-owned radio station, threw out a journalist and assaulted a guest for discussing the unfilled promises of the ruling government. Elhadj Mohamed Cont�, Prefect of Fria, a mining town about 160 kilometres to the North of Conakry, the Guinean capital, on September 18, 2012 took the law into his own hands when he barged into studios of La Voix de Fria, and rudely interrupted the broadcast of a radio programme. The Media Foundation for West Africa�s (MFWA) correspondent reported that, Cont� carried out his act while Alassane Sidib�, host of the programme, �Listeners- Have Your Say,� was on air with Alhassane Sylla, a sociologist and radio consultant. According to the correspondent, Cont� burst into the studio, hit the head of Sylla and threw them out while ordering the technicians to stop the programme. �We were having a programme called �Listeners, Have your Say.� The subject was on Prime Minister Mohamed Sa�d Fofana�s unfulfilled promises. At about 9:30am, the prefect entered the studio. As soon as he got into the doorway, he threw out the first journalist and hit the head of the guest...� � Sidibe recounted. The behaviour of Cont� has attracted a lot of condemnation mainly from the residents of Fria, who are against such attacks on press freedom. By Kwame Karikari (Prof) Executive Director Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) Accra