A Gambian court has sentenced six journalists to two years in jail and imposed heavy fines on them on six counts of sedition and criminal defamation. Failure to pay the fines will lead to an additional two years in jail.
The six journalists, working for two private newspapers—the Point and Foroyaa—had republished a June 11 Gambian Press Union statement criticising President Yahya Jammeh's comments regarding the unsolved 2004 murder of Point editor Deyda Hydara. According to the union, the six will be held at Mile Two Prison in Banjul while the defence files an appeal in the Gambian Court of Appeal.
The Gambian Press Union reacted in June to state-run televised statement made by Jammeh, saying his comments about Hydara were insensitive and calling for a renewed investigation into Hydara's murder. In another state television appearance last month, Jammeh threatened local independent journalists and referred to them as "rat pieces." "So they think they can hide behind so-called press freedom and violate the law and get away with it," Jammeh said. "They got it wrong this time. We are going to prosecute them to the letter."
"President Jammeh has managed to nail the coffin shut for press freedom in the Gambia by arresting some of the last remaining independent journalists in the country," said Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Africa programme coordinator, Tom Rhodes. "CPJ condemns this politicised judgment against these six Gambian journalists. Their sentencing reflects a partisan judicial system controlled by the president."
“We will soon run out of words to express our outrage at President Yahya Jammeh’s government and its behaviour towards journalists,” Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) said. “Is it a crime to express an opinion and ask government officials to explain their actions? Appealing for what is regarded as transparency in other countries is a crime punishable by imprisonment in Gambia.” The press freedom organisation added: “These disgraceful sentences seem like a provocation at time when the US secretary of state is touring Africa to promote good governance. We urge Hillary Clinton to modify her itinerary and make a stopover in Banjul.”
"This is one of the darkest days in the history of African journalism. The harsh sentences pronounced today by justice Fagbenle fly in the face of all the constitutional guarantees and the principles of press freedom and natural justice. Our Gambian colleagues were right to have no faith in the Gambian judicial system which has proved to be spineless and a faithful servant of president Jammeh.” said International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) President Jim Boumelha.
"The conviction of these journalists is yet another serious step in the Gambian government's campaign of harassment against the media," said International Press Institute (IPI) Deputy Director Michael Kudlak. "This case should never have been brought. The six journalists should be set free immediately and unconditionally."
One of the six convicted, the Point's managing director, Pap Saine, suffers from a heart condition and is in desperate need of a pacemaker, he told CPJ. Authorities have also revived unrelated charges accusing Saine of publishing false information in a January article about a cabinet reshuffle in the Gambian Embassy in the United States. Another of the journalists, Sarata Jabbi-Dibba, a senior Point reporter and vice president of the press union, has a seven-month-old baby, local journalists told CPJ.
The other convicted journalists are Foroyaa's managing director, Sam Saar, and assistant editor, Emil Touray; and the Point's deputy editor, Ebou Sawaneh, and senior reporter, Pa Modou Faal.
