Journalist Assaulted While Covering Protest in Guinea-Bissau
Amid demands for unpaid wages, Djuma Culubali, a Capital FM journalist, was detained and physically assaulted by Guinea-Bissau’s rapid intervention force. The attack occurred before she could report on the protest where teachers were requesting their overdue salaries.
Culubali described how she was taken into custody even before the event began and subjected to beatings that left her unconscious. Following the ordeal, she required medical treatment for severe headaches and facial paralysis.
Unfortunately, this incident is not isolated, as other journalists, including Ngouisam Casimiro Monteiro, have also experienced violence at the hands of police officers. This suppression of media personnel is part of a broader trend of restrictions on free journalism in the country.
In response to President Umaro Sissoco Embalo’s authoritarian measures and crackdown on dissent, civil society groups have formed the “Frente Popular” to challenge his regime. Despite facing bans and police interference, the People’s Front vows to continue advocating for democracy and the restoration of rights in Guinea-Bissau.