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Court convicts newspaper editor for "publishing false information"

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 16 June 2009, Abdul Hamid Adiamoh, publisher and managing editor of "Today", a privately-owned, Banjul-based newspaper, who was accused of "publishing false information", was convicted and fined 50,000 Gambian dalasis (approx. US$1,890).

Media Foundation for West Africa's (MFWA) sources reported that should Adiamoh default in paying the fine, he would go to prison for six months.

Adiamoh, a Nigerian-born journalist, was arrested on 8 June following a story the newspaper published about the dismissal of two state ministers by President Yahya Jammeh. He was granted bail on 15 June after spending two days beyond the 72 hours that the 1997 Gambian Constitution stipulates.

Following the arrest and subsequent detention of Adiamoh, the newspaper retracted the story on 11 June, apologised to the ministers named in the article, and stopped further circulation of that particular edition.