Guinea’s media regulatory body, the National Communication Council (CNC), has suspended the bi-monthly Le Populaire for a story carried in the Issue No. 24 of September 30, 2003 of the paper. The managing editor, Ibrahima Diallo, and the author of the story, Abdallah Balde, have also been suspended from practice.
In a statement dated October 1, the CNC explained that the newspaper, together with the two journalists, was being suspended for a period of one month, from October 2, to November 2, 2003, because its lead story, captioned “Amadou Kouyate cuts off his genitals …” was, “an affront to propriety and a violation of the rules of media ethics and professional conduct.” The story was accompanied by a picture illustration of a man showing what remained of his severed penis.
