The Gambia

The inspector general of police reportedly said that Interpol confirmed to Gambian authorities that Ebrimah “Chief” Manneh, a journalist with the Daily Observer who has been missing since 2006, is actually in the United States.

(MFWA/IFEX) – Participants at the NGOs Forum of African Commission on Human and People’s Right (ACHPR) on April 12, 2012 added their voice to the widespread condemnation of the Gambian authorities over their deliberate policy of blocking access to critical online news websites in the country. Systematically, the Gambia authorities have either attacked the online […]

ARTICLE 19 has found significant flaws in the laws regulating the media and free speech in the country, as well as persistent harassment and intimidation of journalists and human rights defenders.

Amadou Scattered Janneh was convicted of treason and sentenced him to life imprisonment with hard labour while three others, Modou Keita, Ebrima Jallow, and Michael C. Ucheh Thomas, were handed three-year sentences by the court.

Mamadou Jallow was charged after he alleged a local chief gave a government-sponsored ticket to the Hajj to his lover.

Deyda Hydara was shot to death on the night of December 16 2004, along with two of his female staff. His family has now filed a lawsuit at the ECOWAS Community Court to compel the government to conduct a full investigation into the matter.

President Yahya Jammeh rejected international criticism over the country’s press freedom record and implied that journalists are only a very small percentage of the population that cannot be protected at the expense of others.

Moses Richards was serving a two-year prison sentence for sedition and another six months for “giving false information” to the office of President Jammeh.

Moses Richards was sentenced to a total of two years and six months’ imprisonment for a letter written on behalf of his client which mentioned the Office of the President.

President Yahya Jammeh, who is also the Minister of Religious Affairs, lifted the ban on Bakawsu Fofanah on June 7, 2011, according to a local newspaper.

Ismaila Ceesay, managing director of the station, was summoned to the headquarters of the National Intelligence Agency and ordered to cease broadcasting of all press review programmes of privately-owned newspapers.

The charges against the seven stem from allegations that they printed and distributed T-shirts for the Gambian Coalition for Change, a pressure group that is calling for an end to the dictatorship.

In public remarks during a meeting with representatives of the Gambian media in March, President Yahya Jammeh suggested he had knowledge of missing journalist “Chief” Ebrima Manneh’s fate.

Alhaji Ismaila Manjang was subjected to a lengthy interrogation on a wide range of issues, including his recent address to students at a graduating ceremony.

Amadou Scattered Janneh and three others have been charged with treason for allegedly distributing materials demanding an end to the rule of President Yahya Jammeh.

Amadou Janneh recently gave lectures on a wide range of issues in The Gambia, and had notably condemned the frequent disappearances in the country and the blocking of online news sites.