The Gambia

(MFWA/IFEX) – Baron Eloagu, a Nigerian news editor of the Banjul-based privately-owned “Daily Express” newspaper, was violently attacked on 10 December 2006 by four unknown assailants for allegedly writing “stupid things about the Gambia.” Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) sources say that on the night of the incident, while Eloagu was on his way […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has reminded leaders from democratic countries attending the 15 and 16 December 2006 ceremonies marking the start of another five-year term for Gambian President Yahya Jammeh in Banjul that 16 December will be the second anniversary of journalist Deyda Hydara’s still unpunished murder. The organisation said it particularly warned Taiwanese […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – Dodou Sanneh, a journalist working with the public broadcaster Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS), was sacked on 20 November 2006 by the management, which offered no explanation for his dismissal. A source told MFWA that the decision was communicated to Sanneh in a letter signed by Momodou Sanyang, the GRTS managing director, […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – The trial of Lamin Fatty, a reporter with the banned Banjul-based bi-weekly “The Independent”, who is being tried for publishing “false information”, is to start anew, following the appointment of the trial magistrate, Kebba Sanyang, as Gambia’s Attorney General and Secretary of State for Justice. Sanyang’s appointment was announced on 13 November 2006. […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 7 November 2006, a magistrate’s court adjourned to 20 November the trial of Lamin Fatty, a reporter with the banned Banjul-based bi-weekly “The Independent”, who is charged with publishing false information. This is the fifth time the case has been adjourned since it began in June. MFWA sources say the trial was […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – Chief Ebrima Manneh, a reporter of the “Daily Observer”, a pro-government newspaper, is still languishing in the cells of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), four months after his arrest. Manneh has been held incommunicado since his arrest and subsequent incarceration on 11 July 2006. The NIA has not given any reason for its […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 9 October 2006, a High Court in Banjul unconditionally released Malick Mboob, a journalist and former staff member of the “Daily Observer”, a pro-government newspaper, after he was kept for 139 days in illegal detention for allegedly sending damaging information to an online US-based newspaper. According to a MFWA-Gambia source, the Court’s […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 23 September 2006, Gambian president Yahya Jammeh repeated one of his long standing anti-press statements, hinting that he would be more ruthless in dealing with journalists and the media in his third five-year term of office. According to a Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) – Gambia source, President Jammeh gave the […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 8 September 2006, Dodou Sanneh, a journalist working with the state-owned Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS), was arrested and detained at a secret location by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) for alleged biased reporting. According to a MFWA-Gambia source, on 13 September Sanneh was released and also relieved of his post. […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Dodou Sanneh, a reporter employed by the state-owned Gambia Radio Television Services (GRTS), was freed on 14 September 2006 and then fired from his job after being held for a week at the headquarters of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) in Banjul. No charges were brought against him. “Once again a Gambian journalist […]

(RSF/IFEX) – The unlawful arrest and detention of Gambian public television reporter Dodou Sanneh in an undisclosed location since 7 September 2006 has been forcefully condemned by Reporters Without Borders as another episode in a systematic crackdown on the press by President Yahya Jammeh’s government. “This latest arrest just two weeks before presidential elections highlights […]

(RSF/IFEX) – The following is a 31 August 2006 RSF capsule report: Lack of press freedom and access to information means “free and fair” presidential election is impossible As the campaign for the 22 September 2006 presidential election got under way on 31 August in Gambia, Reporters Without Borders said repeated attacks on the press […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 27 July 2006, Samba Bah, the Gambia’s former Interior Minister and head of National Intelligence Agency (NIA), testified against Lamin Fatty, a reporter of the bi-weekly Banjul-based newspaper “The Independent”, who is standing trial for allegedly publishing “false information”. Bah told a Magistrate Court in Kanifing District in Serrekunda that even though […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has condemned the arrests of Sam Obi, the managing director of a new, privately-owned newspaper based in Banjul, the “Daily Express”, and one of his journalists, Abdul Gafari, who were held from 14 to 18 July 2006 at the headquarters of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA). The organisation also voiced […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 11 July 2006, Chief Ebrima B. Manneh, a reporter for the pro-government newspaper “Daily Observer”, was arrested and detained by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) of The Gambia. According to an MFWA-The Gambia source, the NIA has not given any reason for the journalist’s arrest and his subsequent detention at the NIA […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 17 July 2006 CPJ press release: GAMBIA: Two more journalists said to be arrested as crackdown continues New York, July 17, 2006 – Two more journalists were arrested on Friday in a government crackdown on critical voices in the run-up to September presidential elections, according to a CPJ source. […]