Gambia
Six journalists pardonedPosted Sep 23 2009
President Yahya Jammeh released six Gambian journalists Sept. 3 from two-year prison terms. The president’s office issued a statement announcing the release “in recognition of the holy month of Ramadan.”
The journalists, Bai Emil Touray, Sarata Jabbi-Dibba and Pa Modou Faal of the Gambia Press Union (GPU), Pap Saine of Reuters, Ebrima Sawaneh of The Point and Sam Sarr of Foroyaa, were arrested in June and convicted on six counts of sedition and defamation for criticizing the president’s denial of government involvement in the death of journalist Deyda Hydara in 2004.
Hydara was co-founder and editor of The Point and the Gambian correspondent for Agence France-Presse (AFP). He was shot and killed by unidentified assailants in his car on the outskirts of Banjul. No one has been arrested for his murder, and investigations have stalled. Many suspect members of the “Green Boys,” an officially disbanded group linked to the president.
Although the president’s press release does not suggest a yielding to international pressure, the European Union and Amnesty International both expressed anxiety over press freedom in Gambia following the imprisonment.
“I am inspired by the grand coalition that was formed nationally and internationally by persons of conscience after the incarceration of the six journalists to facilitate their release,” said Foroyaa’s publisher and co-editor Halifa Sallah. “Everybody sees their release as a step in the right direction regardless of the person’s opinion of the government or the incarceration of the journalists.”
More information
- Read the press release
- International Press Institute
- FOROYAA