CONAKRY: Guinea's military-led government has warned that anyone publishing "unverified or malicious information" about the deaths of dozens of football fans in a stadium crush will face arrest.
Scores died on Sunday in a stampede sparked by contested refereeing decisions, a pitch invasion and the intervention of security forces using tear gas, according to witnesses.
The match in the southeastern city of N'Zerekore was the final of a cup tournament organised in honour of junta chief Mamady Doumbouya, who seized power in a 2021 coup and has installed himself as president.
The government put the provisional death toll at 56, but several civil society groups have said the figure is likely much higher.
The opposition has accused the military-led authorities of being "directly responsible" for the tragedy.
"Disseminating unverified or malicious information on social media that is likely to disturb public order is inadmissible and exposes those responsible to sanctions," said Justice Minister Yaya Kairaba Kaba in a video published on Facebook late Tuesday.
"I warn that anyone who engages in such behaviour will be arrested and prosecuted in accordance with the law," he added.
Such football tournaments and other public gatherings have become common in Guinea in recent weeks, in what is widely seen as a campaign to promote Doumbouya's candidacy in any future presidential election.
Doumbouya has pledged to set up a commission of inquiry into Sunday's tragedy.
"I would like to reassure the population, and particularly the families of the victims, of the government's determination to shed full light on these painful events," said Kaba.
He said he had ordered the public prosecutor's office to "immediately open investigations to establish who was responsible for this tragedy and to initiate criminal proceedings against the alleged perpetrators and accomplices." - AFP