.jpg)
by PK Jarju
Thursday August 6, 2009 will always be remembered by Gambians as one of the darkest days in the Gambia legal history. It was the day when falsehood triumph over truth. It was also the day when the country's judiciary failed in its motto Fiat Justicia.
The jailing of the six journalists to two years in prison with hard labour by Justice Emmanuel Fagbenle is outrageous and very shameful indeed. It is very shameful because it clearly expose the lack of independence in our country's judiciary and the desire of Yahya Jammeh and his regime to keep the Gambian people in a perpetual state of darkness and passive subjugation.
The jailing of the journalists is not surprising. Because Jammeh have threatened to deal with them severely while they were being tried. Their conviction tantamount to persecution rather than prosecution. Secondly, since Jammeh have promised to interfere in the work of our judiciary, there is no doubt that he must have heavily influenced the harsh punishment meted out to the journalists whom he accused of tarnishing his image.
The jailing of our colleagues is very painful but it will not make us cry or abdicate our duties as journalists and sons and daughters of the Gambia. Jammeh and his regime may be able to inflict their conditions on us, but the more resilient we will be. This is because we love the Gambia and do not want to see the country slide into a conflict situation.
The Jammeh regime have to be really honest to the Gambia people. Our work as journalists is not in anyway geared towards tarnishing the image of the country or creating political instability. Despotism, irresponsible governance, violations of people’s rights and freedoms, lack of respect for the rule of law among others is what is tarnishing the Gambia's image.
Gambian journalists are not criminals. Our rights to freedom of expression is guaranteed by Section 25 of the 1997 Constitution and further protected by Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Right and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which the Gambia have ratified. Our conscience is clear.
So if Jammeh thinks that sending us to prison, arresting and torturing us or killing us will scare us away from our noble profession then he is making a terrible mistake. Let him take a look at the number of online newspapers that are emerging every day and are trying to keep him accountable to his electoral promise.
If he can be able to stop all these journalists from practising their profession then I will grant him victory.
The disgraceful manner in which Jammeh is ruling our beloved Gambia is deeply harming the Gambia. Since the jailing of Fiona and David Fulton in December 2008, the number of Britons going to Gambia have dropped significantly. And there is no doubt that this year's tourism season is going to be a disaster because many tourists are saying that they will not go to a country where the regime does not respect people's right to express themselves.
In conclusion, I would like to propose the setting up of a trust fund to help support the families of our jailed colleagues. All these journalists are married with loads of dependants and likely to face a lot of hardships if we don't give them the support.
May Almighty Allah continue to shower his blessings on the Gambia.
