(Reuters) - The United States on Friday described as "outrageous" and a "travesty" the conviction of six journalists in Gambia for sedition and defamation and demanded their immediate release.
"It violates not only accepted international norms, but the imperatives of governance of the 21st century. This action is a travesty, given Gambia's current leadership of the African Union's Human Rights Commission," said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley.
Crowley, who was in South Africa with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said the conviction of the journalists violated not only "accepted international norms, but the imperatives of governance of the 21st century."
The journalists were jailed on Thursday for two years and include three members of the Gambian Press Union, two reporters from The Point newspaper and one working for Foroyaa newspaper. One of the journalists for The Point, Pap Saine, also reports for Reuters.
Reuters issued a statement on Thursday expressing concern for the health of Saine, who needs medical attention for a heart condition and collapsed in court at one stage during the trial.
Seven journalists were arrested in June after the Gambia Press Union issued a statement critical of the government's treatment of journalists, especially after the killing in 2004 of veteran reporter Deyda Hydara. One of the seven was later released.
"The United States, along with other responsible countries, have and will continue to protest this action until the journalists are released," said Crowley, in unusually stern diplomatic language.
"In this day and age, any government that is afraid of ideas and tries to suppress the truth will isolate itself and fall further behind responsible countries that embrace universal principles," he added. (Reporting by Sue Pleming; editing by Dominic Evans)
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