IFJ Calls The Gambia to Release Two Journalists Arrested

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today called on the authorities in The Gambia to release two journalists arrested on Friday.

 

“We condemn these arrests and call on authorities to release the two journalists to continue their work in favor of freedom of expression. In a context of recent executions of nine death row inmates in The Gambia ordered by President Yaya Jammeh these arrests show that the Gambia is determined to kill all freedoms. The international community must press the Gambian authorities in a continuous action in favor of human rights,” said Gabriel Baglo, Director IFJ Africa Office.

 

According to Gambian Press Union (GPU) an IFJ affiliate, Babucar Ceesay, Vice President of the Union and journalist with Daily News newspaper and Abubacarr Saidykhan, freelance journalist have been arrested by police on Friday 7 September 2012.

 

GPU said it did not know the reasons of their arrests.  The two journalists are being detained at the Police Headquarters in the country’s capital. Police denied them visits from relatives and colleagues.

 

 Independent sources said their arrests are linked to a letter addressed to authorities seeking an authorization to organize a peaceful rally to protest against the recent executions of death rows in the Gambia.  

 

 The Gambia under the administration of President Yaya Jammeh has been cited as the worst predator of press freedom in West Africa. No independent investigations were done into the assassination in 2004 of prominent journalist and Editor Deyda Hydara and the disappearance in 2006 of the journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh.

 

“We call on our partners to mobilize to campaign for the release and the safety of the journalists in The Gambia,”added Baglo.

 

For more information, please contact IFJ on +221- 33 867 95 87

The IFJ represents more than 600.000 journalists in 134 countries