(MFWA/IFEX) – On 28 December 2004, without informing The Gambia’s citizens, President Yahya Jammeh signed into law two bills whose application will severely restrict freedom of expression and pose a danger to the practice of journalism in the country. The two laws, The Criminal Code (Amendment) Act, 2004 and The Newspaper (Amendment) Act, 2004, were […]
(MFWA/IFEX) – On 28 December 2004, without informing The Gambia’s citizens, President Yahya Jammeh signed into law two bills whose application will severely restrict freedom of expression and pose a danger to the practice of journalism in the country.
The two laws, The Criminal Code (Amendment) Act, 2004 and The Newspaper (Amendment) Act, 2004, were passed in spite of a public outcry and calls on the president not to append his signature. The laws had been passed by the government-dominated parliament on 14 December.
As a result of amendments to the Criminal Code, the offences of libel, sedition and slander have now been criminalised and are punishable by prison terms without any option of a fine for persons who breach this law.
The Newspaper (Amendment) Act, 2004, on the other hand, nullifies the existing registrations of media establishments in the country. Media outlets therefore must satisfy a new set of registration requirements, which includes bonds and licences, before they can operate. The law also sets the cost of new bonds for media outlets at 500,000 dalasis (approx. US$17,160; 12,855 euros), whereas these bonds were previously set at 100,000 dalasis (approx. US$3,430; 2,571 euros).
According to the MFWA’s sources in The Gambia, the 30 December edition of the government Gazette, No 35, which has not been circulated, outlined the president’s approval of these amendments.
The MFWA is of the view that laws that seek to criminalise speech are outmoded and inconsistent with international press freedom standards.
Such laws also run contrary to the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa, of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), adopted at the ACHPR’s 32nd Ordinary Session in Banjul in 2002.
