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Guinean opposition politician Aliou Bah has been released after President Mamadi Doumbouya granted him a presidential pardon nearly two years after he was detained for remarks deemed insulting to the junta leader.
Bah, one of Guinea’s prominent opposition figures, was among 217 prisoners pardoned by Doumbouya to mark the country’s Independence Day, according to a presidential decree read on state television by Presidency Secretary-General Amara Camara on Friday.
The pardon comes as rights groups and political opponents accuse Guinea’s military authorities of tightening restrictions on dissent since the junta seized power in 2021.
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Bah, who heads the Liberal Democratic Movement (Model), had been in detention since December 2024 after being arrested over comments concerning Guinea’s political situation.
He was sentenced in January 2025 to two years in prison for “offending and insulting” the head of state. An appeals court upheld the sentence in May 2025, despite prosecutors having sought a five-year prison term.
His release had previously been expected around December 2026, when his sentence was due to end.
Bah was convicted over remarks in which he urged Guinean religious leaders to speak out about the country’s political situation and described the ruling National Committee for Rally and Development (CNRD) as “incompetent”.
The case also reached the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
In a letter dated September 25, the regional court asked Guinea’s Supreme Court to order Bah’s immediate and unconditional release.
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Doumbouya came to power in September 2021 after overthrowing President Alpha Condé, Guinea’s first democratically elected leader.
He subsequently consolidated his position after winning the presidential election held in December 2025, which was not contested by any major opposition challenger.
Opposition parties have accused the military authorities of restricting political freedoms, pointing to the dissolution of several major political parties, bans and security crackdowns on demonstrations, as well as the arrests, convictions, exile or disappearance of government critics.
