Accra — Louis Espérance Célestin, chief editor of the weekly newspaper "La Guinée Actuelle", was arrested by about ten plainclothed men from the Police Criminal Investigations Department (DPJ) on the morning of 1 November 2005. He was then kept at a Conakry detention centre reserved for notorious criminals and highway bandits and later released.

According to an MFWA-Guinea source, at about 11:00 a.m. (local time), plainclothed men from the DPJ went to the newspaper's office with a summons which they handed to Célestin and then ordered him to follow them immediately.

The source said when the editor refused to follow them, the men immediately seized him, dragged him into a vehicle and drove him to DPJ headquarters.

After several hours of interrogation behind closed doors, Célestin was transferred to the Conakry Magistrates' Court. After Prosecutor Yaya Kariaiba Kaba issued a summons at 5:00 p.m. (local time), the editor was moved under tight security to the Conakry Detention Centre.

Célestin was accused of posting an article considered "defamatory and unfounded" about Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo on the Internet and publishing it in "La Guinée Actuelle".

The article, entitled "The case of the 4th GSM licence: Prime Minister sidelined by the government, abandoned by General Conté, threatened by Sontel" allegedly accused Prime Minister Diallo of receiving a bribe for granting a licence for the operation of a communications business.

Following its publication, the Prime Minister lodged a complaint with National Communications Commission (CNC) director Boubacar Yacine Diallo, who asked the newspaper manager to publish a retraction of the article.

Célestin was arrested as he was preparing the retraction.

Célestin was released on the evening of 2 November, on the instructions of the Guinean Head of State, General Lansana Conté.