(RSF/IFEX) – On 29 July 2002, RSF called for the immediate and unconditional release of journalist Guy-Patrick Massoloka, a Banjul-based correspondent for the Pan African News Agency (PANA) of Congolese (Brazzaville) nationality. Massoloka was arrested by National Intelligence Agency (NIA, secret service) officials on 19 July and is still being held without charge. “This arrest, […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 29 July 2002, RSF called for the immediate and unconditional release of journalist Guy-Patrick Massoloka, a Banjul-based correspondent for the Pan African News Agency (PANA) of Congolese (Brazzaville) nationality. Massoloka was arrested by National Intelligence Agency (NIA, secret service) officials on 19 July and is still being held without charge.
“This arrest, which coincides with the promulgation of a law creating a national media commission, is disturbing for press freedom in Gambia,” RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said in a letter to Gambian President Yaya Jammeh. “As far as we know, nothing justifies this journalist’s prolonged detention,” Ménard noted in the letter, adding that, “Reporters Without Borders is astonished that the NIA has presented no serious charge or justification for the arrest and no one has been able to contact Mr. Massoloka.”
Following his arrest, Massoloka was taken to NIA headquarters, where he is still being held. Although he resided in The Gambia for just one month prior to his arrest, the NIA claimed that he was publishing an unregistered weekly in the country. This was denied by the Gambian Press Union (GPU), which noted that there is no indication of his being involved in any publication in The Gambia. The real reasons for his detention are still unknown.
RSF notes that the National Media Commission created under a law adopted on 25 July constitutes a virtual press tribunal with powers that pose a serious threat to press freedom in The Gambia.
