(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) – 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 has been thrown in prison, manhandled and then released without any explanation,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Once again, no protest was made by any of the countries with some kind of influence over Gambia. The cynicism and cruelty of President Yahya Jammeh’s government is fed by the impunity he enjoys.”
Sanneh was fired from his position as a GRTS reporter by director general Momodou Sanyang. At the time of his arrest, he was responsible for covering the presidential election campaign of the UDP-NRP-GPDP, one of the two opposition alliances. The election is to take place on 22 September.
The authorities never gave any explanation for his arrest. Questioned by journalists while he was still being held, Fatoumata Jahumpa Ceesay, a pro-Jammeh parliamentarian, and a NIA official claimed that they knew nothing about the case.
