The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the highly politicized court verdict against six independent journalists today in the capital of the Gambia, Banjul.
Judge Emmanuel Fagbenle sentenced the journalists to two years in jail and heavy fines on six counts of sedition and criminal defamation, local journalists told CPJ. Failure to pay the fines will lead to an additional two years in jail, according to the Gambian Press Union.
The six journalists, working for two private newspapers—The Point and Foroyaa—had republished a June 11 press union statement criticizing 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 defense files an appeal in the Gambian Court of Appeal.
The Gambian Press Union reacted in June to a 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 CPJ’s Africa program coordinator, Tom Rhodes. “CPJ condemns this politicized judgment against these six Gambian journalists. Their sentencing reflects a partisan judicial system controlled by the president.”
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.
Reporters Without Borders condemnation
Reporters Without Borders is appalled by the two-year jail sentences that the Banjul high court passed today on six journalists for alleged sedition and defamation of the government. The six journalists, all leading members of the Gambia Press Union, were immediately taken away to Banjul’s Mile Two prison.
“We will soon run out of words to express our outrage at President Yahya Jammeh’s government and its behaviour towards journalists,” Reporters Without Borders 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.”
Banjul high court judge Emmanuel Fangbele found the six journalists guilty on six counts including defamation and “seditious publication”. He passed two-year jail sentences on four of the charges and fines of 250,000 dalasis (10,000 US dollars) on the other two counts.
The six journalists were charged in mid-June after issuing a joint statement appealing to President Jammeh to recognise his government’s responsibility in the 2004 murder of leading Gambian journalist Deyda Hydara. They were placed in pre-trial detention in Mile Two prison twice but each time they were then freed on bail.
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