Cape Town — The prime minister of Guinea Bissau has denied that his government is intimidating journalists for covering a drug-trafficking scandal in the country.

“During our term in office, we have not experienced this situation of journalists being threatened,” Prime Minister Martinho Dafa Cabi told a news conference in Pretoria, according to a transcript released by South Africa’s foreign ministry.

His denial follows reports that several journalists have gone into hiding for fear of being arrested by the country's armed forces. Media reports have accused a marine unit of colluding in drug trafficking.

Cabi told the news conference it was “not the first time” that officials had been accused of wrongdoing “without a factual basis.”

He also denied that his government was underplaying the extent of drug trafficking. “We have always treated the matter very, very seriously,” he said. “We know that drug traffickers have the capacity to destroy a State, not taking into account the matter of public health.”

Cabi said an emergency programme against drug trafficking was being discussed with the participation of citizens.

The prime minister headed a large delegation of political and business leaders for two days of talks with South African government and business leaders.

See also: Four Journalists in Hiding