Guinea Unions Announce Suspension Of General Strike

Conakry, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Feb, 2024) Guinean trade unions on Wednesday said they were suspending a general strike that has paralysed the military-run country for three days after a prominent media activist was released.

Sekou Jamal Pendessa, secretary general of the Union of Press Professionals of Guinea, was detained last month for calling a demonstration against censorship.

His release on Wednesday was one of the strikers' main demands in a country where protests are rare under junta leader Mamady Doumbouya.

The movement "informs the public, private and informal authorities of its willingness to resume negotiations from tomorrow, Thursday", it said in a statement.

Abdoulaye Sow, a spokesman for the union movement, earlier said Pendessa's release meant "we can return to the negotiating table with the government to support the other claims.

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Lower food prices, an end to media censorship and improved living conditions for civil servants are the protester demands to be tackled at the upcoming talks.

Already detained for more than a month, Pendessa had been sentenced on Friday to six months in prison, of which three were suspended.

The appeal case in the capital Conakry saw that reduced to one month in prison, allowing him to walk free.

"It's a victory for democracy, of justice against injustice, of justice against the arbitrary," Pendessa said after the ruling.

"The battle against dictatorship continues and we will fight more so that the authorities know they don't have the right of life and death over the population," he added.