The Gambia

This month marks exactly seven years since Chief Ebrimah Manneh, a reporter in The Gambia, disappeared. Send a letter now calling for justice in his case!

The Gambian National Assembly has passed an amendment to the Information and Communication Act, imposing stiffer sanctions on persons found guilty of using the Internet to spread false news about the government.

Pa Sulay Jadama was released on 26 June 2013, after being held incommunicado for six days by the National Intelligence Agency for taking photographs at the Banjul Magistrates’ Court. Meanwhile, the news editor of a pro-government newspaper has reportedly been missing since 26 June.

Imam Baba Leigh was detained incommunicado for five months and seven days for condemning the execution of nine death row inmates by the Yayha Jammeh-led government, describing the act as inimical to Islamic teachings and precepts. He was neither charged nor granted access to his family and lawyer.

Companies and individuals operating Internet cafes are no longer permitted to offer programs like Skype, under a new order by the the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority. The order comes shortly after amendments threatening free speech were introduced to the Gambian criminal code.

The Gambia has amended sections of the country’s criminal code to empower the courts to administer stiffer punishments to persons found guilty of giving false information to public officials. The offence has long been considered inconsistent with certain provisions of The Gambia’s Constitution

In a letter to Gambian president Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh, a group of organization calls for and end to the harassment of Abdoublie John. Since December 2012, The National Intelligence Agency has twice arbitrarily detained John, editor of the online news website Jollof News and a contributor to The Associated Press.

Abdoulie John has been detained without charge since 7 January. Local journalists told CPJ that they believed security agents were focusing on John’s reporting for Jollof News. The website, which is blocked in the country, has often reported critically about the government, the journalists said.

A day after the 14th anniversary of Norbert Zongo’s murder in Burkina Faso and two days before the 8th anniversary of Deyda Hydara’s murder in Gambia, Reporters Without Borders accuses the authorities in these two countries of sabotaging the investigations into their deaths and encouraging impunity.

Security officers from the Gambian Police Services stormed the Banjul residence of exiled freelance journalist Abubacarr Saidykhan and arrested and detained his younger brother, Ousman Saidykhan, at the Kairaba police station, 12 kilometres from the capital, Banjul.

Imam Baba Leigh, an Islamic cleric in Banjul, was picked up from his home by plain-clothes officers from the National Intelligence Agency. Sources say the arrest is linked to comments he made condemning the execution of nine death row inmates in August.

Abubacarr Saidykhan, who said he received a death threat in late October, now says he has been threatened verbally by a group of men who drove by his home in a darkly-windowed vehicle.

MFWA welcomes the move by Gambian authorities to drop charges against two journalists for seeking permission to peacefully protest the execution of death row inmates, but calls for investigation into death threats against journalists.

Two Gambian newspapers received orders on Friday to immediately cease operations, according to local journalists, in what is apparently the second attempt within a month to censor Gambian media.

Two Gambian journalists were detained while trying to apply for permission to protest against executions.

Gambian national security agents summarily shut down the Taranga FM radio station without providing an explanation.