(WAJA/IFEX) – The following is a WAJA statement on the suspension of “The Independent” newspaper: **Updates IFEX alert of 26 July 1999** WAJA STATEMENT ON SUSPENSION OF THE INDEPENDENT OF GAMBIA The West African Journalists Association has protested in very strong terms to Gambian Justice Minister Fatou Bensouda for the suspension of The Independent, a […]
(WAJA/IFEX) – The following is a WAJA statement on the suspension of “The
Independent” newspaper:
**Updates IFEX alert of 26 July 1999**
WAJA STATEMENT ON SUSPENSION OF THE INDEPENDENT OF GAMBIA
The West African Journalists Association has protested in very strong terms
to Gambian Justice Minister Fatou Bensouda for the suspension of The
Independent, a new bi-weekly newspaper which made its appearance on July 5,
1999.
From our investigation, The Independent was duly authorised to publish
having satisfied all the necessary conditions.
Accordingly we are shocked at the suspension of The Independent and call on
the Gambian authorities to allow the Independent to resume publication.
We are of the opinion that The Independent is being victimised for
fulfilling its duty by publishing a statement by the opposition United
Democratic Party that described President Yahya Jammeh as the “richest
person in the region” and the “most corrupt head of state in Africa”.
We have had reasons in the past to protest the high-handed measures of the
Jammeh government against the independent media of Gambia and quite recently
during our June Congress in Banjul, once again expressed our misgivings
about the record of the Gambian government with regard to press freedom.
We consider the latest measure against The Independent as part of a
systematic policy of the Jammeh government to muzzle the press in The Gambia
and call on President Jammeh to take every step to ensure the resumption of
publication of The Independent.
