(MFWA/IFEX) – Chief Ebrima B. Manneh, a journalist working with the “Daily Observer”, a pro- government daily newspaper, was located on 12 January 2007 for the first time since his arrest by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), more than six months ago. Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) sources say he is being held in […]
(MFWA/IFEX) – Chief Ebrima B. Manneh, a journalist working with the “Daily Observer”, a pro- government daily newspaper, was located on 12 January 2007 for the first time since his arrest by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), more than six months ago.
Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) sources say he is being held in a police cell in Fatoto, the last major border town in the east of the country, about 500 kilometres from Banjul. Manneh’s arrest took place just a week after the African Union (AU) Heads of State summit took place in Banjul, on 11 July 2006, when he was alleged to have passed on “damaging” information to a foreign journalist prior to the event.
Until Manneh was seen at the Fatoto police cells, his whereabouts had remained unknown. Even though the NIA and other security agencies denied holding him, MFWA sources had insisted that Manneh’s colleagues witnessed his arrest by plainclothes officers of NIA at the “Daily Observers”‘ premises and that had been the last time he was seen or heard of.
In a statement on 11 November 2006, MFWA asked the NIA to admit to having custody of him. At the beginning of 2007, the NIA released all detainees they said were in their custody, without Manneh. However, MFWA sources said Manneh and others were transferred to other parts of the country.
The sources stated that after being held at the NIA headquarters for an unspecified period, the journalist was transferred to the state central prison. From there, he was transferred to Kartong Police Station, the last border town in the west of the country; Sibanor Police Station, also in the western region; Kuntaur Police Station in the North-East, and then to his present detention cell. And even though the local media has also confirmed seeing Manneh, the government has remained silent on the matter.
Arbitrary arrests and detentions of journalists without trial have become routine in the lives of media practitioners in The Gambia. Lamin Fatty, a reporter of the banned “The Independent”, who is being tried for allegedly publishing “false information”, was arrested and detained illegally on 10 April 2006 for 63 days before being released on bail. Last year Malick Mboob, a journalist and former staff member of the “Daily Observer”, spent 139 days in illegal detention for allegedly sending damaging information to an online US-based newspaper, before he was released by a court.
The MFWA is appalled at the blatant disregard of the rule of law by the Gambian authorities perpetrated through the practice of detaining persons beyond the 72 hours stipulated in the Gambian Constitution.
The MFWA repeats its call on human rights advocacy organizations and freedom of expression activists to insist that President Yahya Jammeh personally ensures the safety of Manneh and a speedy trial in a court of competent jurisdiction if needed.
