Bissau, Aug. 4, 2025 (Lusa) - Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Monday condemned the attack on Waldir Araújo, a correspondent for Portugal's state-owned RTP radio and television in Guinea-Bissau, who was assaulted on 27 July.
RSF said this violent attack on a media professional was the latest in a “wave of repression” against journalists.
The organisation called on the authorities to “conduct a transparent investigation to identify and immediately hold the attackers to account”.
Araújo has been RTP's correspondent in Guinea-Bissau for five years. On 27 July, he was brutally beaten by ‘three or four individuals’ who accused him and the Portuguese media of “tarnishing the country's image abroad”.
According to the RSF statement, the journalist suffered facial injuries and had some personal belongings stolen, including his mobile phone.
“After receiving treatment at the hospital, the journalist filed a report with the Judicial Police (the country's main criminal investigation agency). He ended up leaving the country on 29 July to recover,” they said.
"The Guinea-Bissau Minister of Communication, Florentino Fernandino Dias, did not respond to RSF's requests, nor did he comment on the incident, but according to his communications officer, Alcené Sidibé, the ministry is “gathering information to ascertain the circumstances of the attack”,’ he said.
For RSF's Sub-Saharan Africa director, Sadibou Marong, this attack is a worrying sign for the safety of media professionals, particularly as the country heads towards general elections on 23 November.
“This attack cannot go unpunished,” Marong said.
According to RSF, the safety of journalists has been "severely tested in recent years in Guinea-Bissau, with frequent armed raids on the offices of various media outlets, some of which have resulted in the destruction of property," he lamented.
RTP immediately condemned the attack on Waldir Araújo and demanded that the authorities open an investigation.
The Union of Journalists and Media Technicians (SINJOTECS) and the Guinea-Bissau Journalists' Association also described the attack as regrettable.
The Portuguese government also said on 29 July that it was monitoring the case and described the attack as “unacceptable”.
In addition to the repression of journalists, the economic situation of the media in the country is equally precarious, RSF pointed out.
“With advertising revenues and newspaper sales very low, the authorities continue to impose exorbitant taxes and licence fees, especially on the audiovisual media. This has contributed to increased self-censorship and weakened the editorial quality of information,” they concluded.
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