(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is protesting in the strongest terms against the recent arrest of three journalists from “The Independent” newspaper. **Updates IFEX alerts of 28 July and 26 July 1999** Officers of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) arrested Baba Galleh Jallow and Yorro Jallow, editor-in-chief and managing editor, respectively, of “The Independent”, on the evening […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is protesting in the strongest terms against the recent
arrest of three journalists from “The Independent” newspaper.
**Updates IFEX alerts of 28 July and 26 July 1999**
Officers of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) arrested Baba Galleh
Jallow and Yorro Jallow, editor-in-chief and managing editor, respectively,
of “The Independent”, on the evening of Sunday 1 August at the newspaper’s
offices in Banjul. The two journalists have not been charged with any crime,
but are being held at NIA headquarters in Banjul.
A third staff member, reporter Lamin Daffeh, is still in detention after his
arrest last Friday 30 July. NIA officers arrested Daffeh at the newspaper’s
offices along with the entire support staff of “The Independent”, who were
held for about two hours and then released with the warning that “if they
did not want trouble,” they should not work for the newspaper.
CPJ is fully aware that President Yahya Jammeh’s government has recently
been harassing “The Independent”, a private biweekly newspaper that started
publication on 5 July. Despite having given it the go-ahead to start
publishing, on 23 July the Ministry of Justice ordered “The Independent” to
cease publication on the spurious grounds that it had not registered as an
incorporated company with the Commissioner of Income Tax. The paper intends
to continue publishing if possible.
CPJ agrees with staff at “The Independent” that this harassment comes partly
in response to an editorial in the 14 July edition of the newspaper that
condemned alleged human rights abuses committed in The Gambia since the 1994
military coup.
Having attended the conference of the West African Journalists Association
in Banjul in June 1999, and having met with numerous Gambian journalists,
CPJ is convinced that the actions of Jammeh’s government against “The
Independent” are part of a pattern of systematic repression of the
independent media in The Gambia. We agree with the words of a senior Gambian
journalist, who told CPJ that “The press in The Gambia is wallowing in fear
and self-censorship.”
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the president:
the
right to freedom of expression and opinion
released
immediately, and that the newspaper is free to publish without further
hindrance
Appeals To
President Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh
Office of the President
State House
Banjul, The Gambia
Fax: +220 226 696
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
