Managing Director of Planete FM, Mandian Sidibe, has been charged with libel and placed under judicial review by a Magistrates' Court in Conakry, the capital, for comments he made during a radio programme.

The charge of libel followed a complaint lodged against him by the Dixinn Court, formerly known as the office of the President.

Confirming the charge on July 4, 2013, Lawyer Souleymane Balde, counsel for Sidibe explained that the Dixxin Court accused Sidibe of making defamatory utterances during a discussion programme on his radio station, Planete FM.

According to the complainants, Sidibe said "there are people who are ready to scuttle the holding of the legislative elections in Guinea. ... quarrels within the ruling party, RPG, that have the tendency to dash any possibility of holding the elections on the appointed date. Know that I am being weighed down by threats of kidnapping and physical elimination."

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) is worried about the charge of libel handed to the journalist and calls for a fair and expeditious trial.

We call on the media associations and groups in Guinea to stand in support of Sidibe considering the attacks he and Planate FM have endured these past months.

Planete FM owned by an outspoken opposition leader, Abubacarr Sylla, has been subjected to a series of attacks including recent gunshots at their premises by armed police officers.

Sidibe recently survived a one-month suspension imposed on him by the media regulator, the National Communications Council (CNC). The suspension was, however, overturned by the Supreme Court upon the intervention of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice.