Reporters Without Borders (RSF) welcomes the decision by Guinea’s supreme court reopening Continental FM, a radio station that was closed after the Guinean media regulator, the High Authority for Communication (HAC), withdrew its licence on 30 October.

In response to an appeal by Continental FM, the Supreme Court issued an order blocking the Conakry-based radio station’s closure by the HAC and the ministry of information and communication.

When the HAC announced the withdrawal of Continental FM’s licence, it said the radio station had violated “the spirit and content of the specifications for the establishment and operation of privately-owned radio and TV broadcasting.”

“We welcome the supreme court’s decision, which renders justice to a radio station that was closed arbitrarily by a media regulator that is increasingly acting as a censor of the privately-owned media,” said Assane Diagne, the director of RSF’s West Africa office.

Guinea is ranked 107th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2019 World Press Freedom Index.