Guinean minister hails country's increasing "media freedom"

Guinea's Communication Minister Rachid N'Diaye on Tuesday hailed the "increasing media freedom" in the country.

The minister who was speaking in Conakry during celebrations to mark the World Press Freedom Day, said there are many public and private media organizations that operate with relative freedom in the country.

According to him, the media plays an important role "consolidation of democratic achievements" as well as in preservation of peace and national unity, something that is required for a country's socioeconomic development.

"I think we should appreciate the media freedom in our country," N'Diaye said, adding that "naturally there's no absolute freedom according to the law."

The minister noted that each profession always has some challenges.

Speaking of the place the country occupies in 2016 in the global ranking of media freedom by Reporters Without Borders, 108 out of 180 countries, the communication minister said his country holds a "comfortable position" when compared with other sub-regional countries like Mali, Morocco and Nigeria.

"Today, journalists carry out their work in a responsible manner," the minister said.

In 2015, a journalist working for a private television station, Espace TV, was reported missing despite police launching investigations to trace him.

In February of the same year, another journalist, Mohamed Diallo, who was working for an online press in Guinea, was shot dead at the headquarters of Guinea's main opposition party, Union of Democratic Forces in Guinea. Endit