A former president of the Gambia Press Union (GPU) has described the assassination of Deyda Hydara on December 16, 2004 as the biggest tragedies that had ever befallen the Gambia.
In an interview with AllGambian, Mr Jawo who was a close friend of the late Deyda Hydara and is currently based in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, said it is extremely hard for any rational being to make sense as to why anyone would pull a trigger against a harmless person like Deyda.
"His assassination was no doubt one of the biggest tragedies that had ever befallen The Gambia. However, the apparent lack of interest by the Gambian authorities to thoroughly investigate this gruesome murder makes it even harder to comprehend. It is indeed hard to imagine such a thing happening in The Gambia, let alone to a harmless person like Deyda. He was not only a friend to everyone, but Deyda was also a kind-hearted person who was ever ready to assist anyone in need, regardless of ethnic, religious, political or social background. Therefore, it is hard to guess who might have killed him and why," Mr Jawo said.
Below is the full text of Mr Jawo’s interview with AllGambian's PK Jarju.
AllGambian: It has been four years now since the gruesome murder of Deyda Hydara. What do you make of the whole incident?
DAJ: It is extremely hard for any rational being to make sense as to why anyone would pull a trigger against a harmless person like Deyda. His assassination was no doubt one of the biggest tragedies that had ever befallen The Gambia. However, the apparent lack of interest by the Gambian authorities to thoroughly investigate this gruesome murder makes it even harder to comprehend.
AllGambian: How was it like as a friend of Deyda when you first got the call in the early hours of December 16, 2004 that he was killed?
DAJ: I had actually returned from a trip to Zambia on the very night that Deyda was killed, and it was early in the morning that a western diplomat called me on the telephone asking what I knew about what had happened to Deyda. I told her that I was not aware of anything happening to him. I then called Pap Saine who told me that they shot him dead the previous night. The news came to me like a dream and it only became a reality when several people started calling me about it.
AllGambian: Why do you think Deyda was killed?
DAJ: It was indeed hard to imagine such a thing happening in The Gambia, let alone to a harmless person like Deyda. He was not only a friend to everyone, but Deyda was also a kind-hearted person who was ever ready to assist anyone in need, regardless of ethnic, religious, political or social background. Therefore, it is hard to guess who might have killed him and why.
AllGambian: Are you surprised that no one has yet been arrested or charged with Deyda’s murder?
DAJ: Of course anyone concerned about equity and justice would be surprised that not only has no one yet been apprehended about his murder, but that the Gambian authorities do not even seem to be interested in investigating the case. They instead seem to treat his assassination like a non-event. It is hard to imagine such a heinous crime being committed in a close-knit society like ours and four years later, no one has been apprehended for it.
AllGambian: Some people are accusing the government of not doing enough to catch the killers of Deyda. Do you agree with that?
DAJ: It is definitely hard to understand why there is no visible sign that the Gambian authorities are actually investigation the case. Therefore, there is a lot of credibility in any allegations that the government is not doing enough to apprehend his killers.
AllGambian: Do you think there is a cover up in the investigations?
DAJ: While I am not in a position to categorically accuse the government or anyone of a cover-up in the investigations, but the very fact that it is four years and there are hardly any serious investigations going on gives a lot of credibility to such assumptions. Apart from anything else, Deyda was a Gambian citizen who, like all Gambians, deserved the protection of the Gambia government. Therefore, if such a gruesome crime has been committed against him, it is definitely the duty of the government to investigate it with the utmost seriousness, in order to bring the perpetrators to book. It is therefore quite disappointing that the government does not seem to give much regard to the investigations.
AllGambian: What was your response to the report issued on June 5, 2005 by the Department of State for the Interior on the investigations into Deyda’s death?
DAJ: Like everyone else concerned about justice and fair play, I was quite flabbergasted by the so-called “Confidential Report” issued by the Department of State for the Interior in June 2005, which has been the first and so far the only report they have issued on the investigations. Instead of coming up with some possible leads as to who may killed Deyda and why, the report was instead full of aspersions and innuendos about his reputation and way of life, virtually sifting the blame for his murder on his “wayward” character, portraying him as a womanizer and an irresponsible person who made many enemies for himself, all of which were far from the truth.
AllGambian: the Gambia Press Union was angry with the government for not pursuing their investigations in a scientific and professional manner, especially the use of modern means to trace the origin of the bullets extracted from Mr Hydara’s body. What would you say to that?
DAJ: Of course the GPU, and no doubt several other groups and individuals concerned with equity and justice have questioned the government’s commitment to carry out a thorough investigation of the case. As such, they called for the involvement of other more credible and experienced investigators to help the police apprehend the perpetrators of this heinous crime. However, the authorities have flatly refused to accept that proposition, claiming that they had the capacity to investigate the case, even though they seem to have completely abandoned the investigations.
AllGambian: The GPU urged the government in June 2005 to seek help from the UN, the Commonwealth or other friendly governments to investigate Mr Hydara’s murder as it was beyond their capacity. Do you think international assistance would have made any difference?
DAJ: There is absolutely no doubt that assistance from more experienced investigators from the very beginning when whatever evidence existed was fresh, could have made a lot of difference. I even understand that some western embassies were quite willing to seek the services of agencies in their countries to assist, but the authorities rejected it outright.
AllGambian: Considering the situation, it looks as if the authorities are done with Deyda’s case. Do you think the murderers will ever be apprehended?
DAJ: With the way things are going, it is hard to see how Deyda’s killers could ever be brought to book, especially when no investigation seems to be going on. We can therefore only hope and pray that the authorities will change their minds and give it the seriousness it deserves, otherwise, there is no chance of the killers being ever apprehended.
AllGambian: Mr Hydara was a personal friend of yours. Can you tell me what type of person he was?
DAJ: Of course Deyda was not only a long term colleague and a friend of mine, but he was also a friend to everyone. He was quite a selfless gentleman of the highest category, who was eager and always willing to help those in need. He had great respect for humanity and he had the best of intentions for this country. In a nutshell, Deyda was courageous, steadfast and committed to the ideals of journalism and to everything else he was engaged in.
AllGambian: Why did you and Ahmed Alota decide to write the Book, ‘A Living Mirror: The Life of Deyda Hydara’?
DAJ: Ahmed Alota and I decided to write the book on Deyda’s life because we thought someone needed to document Deyda’s fulfilled life for the benefit of future generations. Deyda was not only a journalist but a defender of human rights and a social activist who constantly fought against injustice and therefore his life had a lot of lessons for everyone, particularly the younger generation.
AllGambian: It was said that in the course of your research for the book, some people had warned you to desist from writing it because you could get killed. Why did you refuse to back down?
DAJ: Of course some people thought that we were deliberately looking for trouble by writing a book on the life of Deyda, and some even advised us to drop the idea. However, we were quite determined to do what we thought was the right thing to do, and that was to document Deyda’s impressive achievements. We knew we were not committing any crime by writing the book and as such, we never contemplated abandoning the idea because of the possibility of someone somewhere being intimidated by it.
AllGambian: In the book, you narrated a scene where Mr Hydara, after a good meal of benachin at his house, removed his shirt, pointed to his ribs and his left temple, and told his wife, “This is where they will shoot me.” Do you think he had foreseen his assassination?
DAJ: Yes we were told that bizarre story by Mrs. Maria Hydara (his wife), and in fact another friend of his also told us a similar story of how they went to a restaurant one day and he refused for them to sit at a particular table because he said someone may shoot at him there. However, whether he foresaw his assassination or those were just coincidental jokes, it is hard to tell.
AllGambian: Why did you risk your life to work for The Point weeks after the murder of Deyda?
DAJ: I was never an employee of The Point, even though I was involved with the editorial work for sometime after Deyda’s murder. It was a fulfillment of a promise I gave to Pap Saine on the day of the funeral when he suggested that he was going to give up as it was not worth the risk. I told him that we could not afford to let The Point die with Deyda because it was his legacy. I therefore gave him an undertaking that I was going to help, and that was my connection with the paper.
AllGambian: Many Gambian journalists have fled the country or quit the profession since Deyda’s murder. Don’t you think that was one of the objectives of whoever must have killed Deyda?
DAJ: While it is not easy to guess what the motives of Deyda’s killers were, but it makes a lot of sense to assume that the authorities would not be sad to see many journalists leave the country as it left fewer people in the country to criticize what they are doing.
AllGambian: How do you see the atmosphere in which the Gambian media is operating?
DAJ: The atmosphere under which the Gambian media operates is certainly far from ideal. There is no doubt that Deyda’s murder and the prevailing atmosphere of impunity, especially for those who commit crime against journalists and their media houses, has been one of the factors responsible for the decision by many journalists to leave the country. We have all witnessed the various crimes perpetrated against some media houses and some individual journalists which have never been investigated. We have also seen the arbitrary closure of media houses such as Citizen FM, Sud FM and The Independent without any court order.
Indeed, without the courage and resilience of Gambian journalists, there would never have been any independent media left in the country today as we know it. Most probably, all the surviving newspapers and other media houses would have been singing the same tunes as the Daily Observer.
AllGambian: Despite the return of the country to civilian rule, Decree 70/71 is still not repealed. Do you think the government has any plans of repealing it?
DAJ: There are of course no visible plans to repeal Decree 70/71 or any of the numerous other repressive media laws. What we have instead seen is the promulgation of even more draconian laws such as the Newspaper Amendment Act and the Criminal Code Amendment Act 2004, both of which make life harder for the independent media.
AllGambian: Finally, what do you think needs to be done in order to bring Deyda’s killers to justice?
DAJ: What everyone expects the authorities to do in order to show the whole world that they are indeed interested in apprehending Deyda’s killers is to show commitment to investigate his murder, otherwise, it is hard to see how Deyda’s murderers will ever be brought to book.
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