On December 22, 2008, President Lansana Conte died after a long illness. The following day, a military junta, the National Council for Democracy and Development (Conseil National pour la Démocratie et le Développement, CNDD), under Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, took power and promised a short transition period of one year before handing power over to civilians. Despite these promises, personal ambitions and internal divisions led to a prolonged and highly volatile transition period. A second round of presidential elections in November 2010 confirmed Professor Alpha Conde as the winner. The transition period (2008-2010) was marked by numerous reforms. The National Transition Council (Conseil National de la Transition, CNT) – a temporary parliament put in place in 2010 – adopted a new Constitution on May 06, 2010. In the same year, it also revised and adopted new laws to regulate the press sector, notably Law 002 granting media freedom, Law 003 creating a High Communication Authority, as well as “the law authorising access to public information.” However, none of the laws promulgated has yet been published in the Official Gazette. The Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and freedom of the media. Its preamble proclaims Guinea’s adherence to the norms and principles of the United Nations, the Declaration of Human Rights, the International Conventions and Pacts governing Human Rights, the African Union’s Constitutive Act, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and its additional protocols on Women’s Rights, as well as the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) Treaty and its protocols on Democracy and Good Governance. Article 7 of the Constitution says that “The creation of a press or media organ for the dissemination of political, economic, social, cultural, sporting, recreational or scientific information shall be free.” Any restriction to this provision must be “absolutely necessary to maintain public order and defend democracy”. The Constitution refers to the duty of the state “to ensure that the Constitution […] and all other duly ratified international instruments relative to human rights […] are available to and understood by all.” Unfortunately, not all these instruments are known to the public and no measures are taken to make sure they are being respected. Given the political and ethnic divisions in the country, freedom of expression is practised timidly, and not without fear. There is no law which limits freedom of expression; it is rather the abusive interpretation of the notion of state secrets that endangers freedom of expression and denies citizens free access to public information. The “law granting free access to public information” has still not come into effect. Anyone who wishes to publish a newspaper in Guinea just has to register: “Anyone shall be free to create a media organ without prior authorisation and without a surety deposit”. All it takes is a simple administrative declaration setting 70 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER GUINEA 2011