Lisbon, Aug. 18, 2025 (Lusa) - Portugal's Journalists' Union (SJ) on Monday repudiated Guinea-Bissau's "brutal decision to expel journalists from RTP, RDP and the Lusa agency, and called on the Portuguese government to "be firm in defending the maintenance of these media organisations.
"The SJ hopes that the Portuguese government, which was quick to condemn the closure of these organs of Portuguese expression, summoning the ambassador of Guinea-Bissau, will be firm in its defence of the maintenance, in total freedom, of the broadcasting of these media outlets, that it will make it known that this attitude and the expulsion of journalists is intolerable and that it will stress the inalienable value of press freedom in every country in the world, reads a statement released today by the union.
On Friday, the government of Guinea-Bissau decided to expel the delegations of Lusa, RTP and RDP from the country, suspend their broadcasts with immediate effect and order their representatives to leave the country by Tuesday. No reasons were given for this decision.
For the SJ, "journalists are expelled simply for carrying out their profession, in a "brutal decision that only has an example in states that do not respect the democratic order, human rights and where power is exercised autocratically.
"The SJ condemns and denounces the persecution of free journalism and the attack on the freedom to inform and be informed carried out by the government of Guinea-Bissau by ordering the end of broadcasts by RTP, RDP Africa and the work of the Lusa agency in this African country, it emphasises.
The union also said it "stands in solidarity with all the Guineans who work for these media outlets, which have been banned since last Friday, as well as with the Union of Journalists and Media Technicians (SINJOTECS), which represents Guinean media professionals.
On Friday, SINJOTECS said that this decision represents "an unacceptable step backwards on the road to consolidating democracy, transparency and the rule of law in Guinea-Bissau.
"In Guinea-Bissau as in other nations around the world where journalists are being banned, conditioned or even killed for carrying out their work, there is a common denominator which is the fear that the powers that be have that their people can develop a critical spirit and make decisions based on information from different sources, the SJ argues, adding: "It is a power of social and political change that despots do not tolerate.
The Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs repudiated the expulsion of the national media, which it labelled "highly reprehensible and unjustifiable. It announced that it would be asking the Guinean government for explanations.
The news directorates of Lusa, RTP and RDP reacted jointly to the Guinean government's decision, which they described as "a deliberate attack on freedom of expression.
The news organisations demand that journalists from Lusa, Radio and RTP Television be allowed to continue exercising their right to inform in Guinea-Bissau."
PD/ADB // ADB.
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