(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned an arson attack on the home of BBC radio correspondent Ebrahima Sillah in the capital, Banjul. The organisation said the attack appeared to be a warning to the independent media, as the government has not seriously investigated other such incidents in recent months. The latest attack came in the early […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned an arson attack on the home of BBC radio correspondent Ebrahima Sillah in the capital, Banjul. The organisation said the attack appeared to be a warning to the independent media, as the government has not seriously investigated other such incidents in recent months.
The latest attack came in the early hours of 15 August 2004. Intruders broke several windows of Sillah’s home, pouring gasoline inside his living room and setting it on fire, causing extensive damage but no injuries.
RSF noted that the privately-owned twice-weekly newspaper “The Independent” was also the victim of two arson attacks in recent months, which the authorities have not investigated. “If this kind of impunity continues, the consequences are likely to be much worse,” the organisation said.
On 13 August, the Gambia Press Union (GPU, the country’s independent journalists’ association) received an anonymous letter accusing the media of criticising Gambian President Yahya Jammeh and of being “agents of the West.” The authors said they planned “to teach a GPU journalist a lesson very soon,” while adding, “[We are] sure you don’t want your bones and flesh to be thrown to dogs and vultures.”
Many people speculate that the letter was from the “Green Boys”, government supporters whose name is a reference to the colour of the flag of the ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC).
In a 13 January letter, the “Green Boys” had threatened to kill “The Independent” managing editor Alagi Yorro Jallow and destroy his paper (see IFEX alert of 21 January 2004). Three months later to the day, the paper’s printing press was set on fire to and completely destroyed (see alert of 13 April 2004). The “Green Boys” criticised the paper’s coverage of the tax evasion trial of APRC parliamentary spokesman Baba Jobe.
