Guinea teacher jailed for one month for insulting imam

Abdourahmane Bella Bah was also ordered to pay a fine of 40 million Guinean francs (around $4,662, 4,000 euros) for "insults and defamation through a computer system", an AFP journalist saw.

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

The court also ordered the closure of his Facebook account "Bella Bah".

He was charged and detained on August 13, after being reported missing five days earlier. His wife and a witness said he had been "abducted" while from his school in Conakry.

His arrest came just hours after he posted a message on social media criticising Mamadou Saliou Camara, chief imam of the capital's Grand Mosque. He subsequently deleted the message.

Bella Bah told the court he had not targeted the imam directly, but rather religious leaders in general.

The imam had said he did not want to file a complaint against Bella Bah and had forgiven him, asking the authorities to release him.

Bella Bah's lawyer Alseny Aissata Diallo told AFP he planned to appeal the court's decision.

Critics of Guinea's government are increasingly being abducted or are disappearing, while the authorities regularly deny having knowledge of the occurrences.

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.