A senior Guinean official has warned that anyone attacking the image of the country’s ruler would meet the fate of a doctor who died in jail after being held for allegedly burning his portrait.The prefect of the eastern Kankan region, Kandia Mara, caused a furore after videos surfaced on social media of him apparently warning of serious consequences for critics of General Mamady Doumbouya, who came to power after a 2021 coup.Mara made the comments on Wednesday during a ceremony to inaugurate a memorial to Doumbouya. AFP verified one of the videos aired on Kankan Infos TV.”Troublemakers who try to set fire… the first one we catch will go in the same manner the other one went,” Mara said in the Mandingo language.It was widely interpreted as a reference to a doctor, Mohamed Dioubate, who was arrested for allegedly setting fire to Doumbouya’s portrait at a roundabout in Kankan in September.Kankan, about 555 kilometres (345 miles) east of the capital Conakry, is the west African country’s third-largest city in terms of population.Dioubate died in prison the same month and the circumstances of his death were never explained.A September 2021 coup that toppled civilian president Alpha Conde brought the current junta to power.Led by Doumbouya, who has since been sworn in as president, the junta has overseen a crackdown on dissent, banning all protests in 2022.Three people have died in as many months in detention. Two opposition figures meanwhile remain missing since their arrest in July.Two civil society leaders, Alpha Bayo and Ange Gabriel Haba, called for the prefect to be sacked immediately.”This declaration is eloquent proof that he is responsible for the assassination of Doctor Dioubate,” said Bayo. Haba said it was representative of a “tyrannical power”.Many opposition leaders in Guinea have been detained, brought before the courts or forced into exile.
