(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Justice Joseph Joof, RSF called for the immediate release of Alhagie Mbye, a journalist from “The Independent” and correspondent for the London-based magazine “West Africa”. He has been detained since 21 November 2001 at the National Intelligence Agency’s (NIA) headquarters in Banjul. “This is not the first […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Justice Joseph Joof, RSF called for the immediate release of Alhagie Mbye, a journalist from “The Independent” and correspondent for the London-based magazine “West Africa”. He has been detained since 21 November 2001 at the National Intelligence Agency’s (NIA) headquarters in Banjul. “This is not the first time that Alhagie Mbye has been troubled for investigating disturbing subjects,” stated Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general. “The journalist did nothing more than exercise his right to inform. It is high time that the harassment of investigative journalists ceased in The Gambia.” Ménard recalled that the secretary-general of Amnesty International’s local section was detained in the same conditions a month earlier. He had denounced the harassment to which opponents of Yaya Jammeh’s regime were reportedly subjected during the recent election campaign.
According to information collected by RSF, on 21 November, Mbye was arrested and taken to the NIA’s offices, where he remains detained at present. Mbye wrote an article that was published in “West Africa”, in which he reported on serious electoral fraud. According to the journalist, thousands of foreigners from Casamance (Senegal) who live in The Gambia were reportedly registered on the electoral lists for the presidential election that was held on 18 October.
RSF recalled that plainclothes police officers previously arrested Mbye on 25 July 2000. He was released on bail. He was questioned about an article published in “The Independent” that revealed that about twenty persons were imprisoned for several years without ever being tried (see IFEX alert of 1 August 2000).
