(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 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 the despotic character of the incumbent’s government,” the press freedom organisation said. “Sanneh seems to have been arrested for not being sufficiently servile towards the country’s current rulers. If the African Union does not at the very least ask Jammeh to respect all the treaties and charters he has signed, it will never again be able speak out about rigged elections anywhere in the continent.”
Reporters Without Borders learned from several local sources that did not want to be identified that Sanneh, who works for the state-owned Gambian Radio and Television Services (GRTS), has been held since 7 September. He had been given the job of covering the election campaign of the opposition UDP-NRP-GPDP alliance, which is backing lawyer Ousainou Darboe as presidential candidate. He was reportedly arrested because his coverage of its meetings was considered “not objective.”
The sources do not know where Sanneh is being held or what charges might have been brought against him. He is the 10th journalist to be arrested in Gambia since the start of the year. None of these arrests has complied with the legal requirement that detainees be charged within 72 hours and be allowed access to a lawyer.
The Gambian capital of Banjul is the headquarters of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR). It also hosted an African Union summit on 1-2 July.
