Journalist assaulted by soldiers
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IFEX (Toronto, Canada)
PRESS RELEASE
July 19, 2001
Posted to the web July 19, 2001
Toronto, Canada
In an 18 July 2001 letter to Gambian President Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh, IPI
expressed its concern over the recent assault of a journalist by members of
The Gambian military.
According to information provided to IPI, on 12 July, Omar Bah, court
reporter with "The Independent" newspaper, was attacked by soldiers when he
attempted to enter the Yundum Army Barracks, Banjul. Bah had gone to the
barracks in order to report on the court martial proceedings instigated
against Landing Sanneh, a former state guard commander at State House.
Prior to the attack, on 6 July, Bah had visited the barracks to attend the
opening proceedings of the court martial but, upon arriving, had been told
by Lance Corporal Fullo Jallow that journalists were not allowed to cover
the legal hearings. Subsequently, Bah was ordered to leave the barracks with
immediate effect. Upon hearing of the incident, Major Sang Pierre Mendy, the
officer in charge of coordinating the court martial, telephoned "The
Independent" to apologise for Bah's treatment. He made it clear to editors
at the newspaper that Bah would be allowed to cover the proceedings.
On 12 July, Bah returned to the barracks and reported to the Military Police
Unit (MP Unit) in order to confirm his presence. He also asked to speak to
Mendy. At the MP Unit, he was invited to proceed to the court martial but
upon going there was asked by Jallow to return to the MP Unit. Once there,
the lance corporal proceeded to launch a tirade of abuse at the journalist,
telling him, "All that I have to tell you is to leave this place immediately
or I will kick your ass."
Bah protested the decision and asked Jallow to contact Mendy. Reacting to
this, Jallow grabbed the journalist's shirt and began to push him out of the
camp. Upon reaching the road, outside the barracks, the journalist and the
lance corporal were joined by another soldier who suggested that Bah be
locked up in a cell. Bah was then taken to a small room inside the barracks,
where three more soldiers joined them. The group of soldiers then proceeded
to assault Bah. Fortunately, further attacks on Bah's person were prevented
by the intervention of Bailo Kahn, a sergeant at the barracks.
In reaction to the assault, Mendy called Jallow before him and told the
lance corporal that he had acted without orders and that journalists were
allowed to cover the proceedings. Ousman Sillah, the lawyer acting for
Sanneh, also condemned the act. "It is crazy, I don't know why they are
behaving like this," he said. Commenting on the assault, the president of
The Gambia Press Union, Demba Jawo, said, "This type of situation is
definitely not acceptable in a civilised nation like The Gambia."
Although IPI accepts the fact that the attack on Bah was carried out by
soldiers acting without orders and that soldiers of higher rank tried to
ensure that the journalist had the right to attend the court martial
proceedings, IPI is still troubled by the attack. In the opinion of IPI, the
attack discloses a degree of antipathy towards the media; a view that might
be ingrained in The Gambian army as a whole. The media need to be present at
court proceedings in order to judge their fairness. Any attempt to preclude
the media would be harmful to transparency in The Gambia.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Send appeals to the president:
- inviting His Excellency to ensure that a full and proper inquiry is held
into the attack on Bah
- asking that more be done to ensure that members of the military have a
greater understanding of the essential role played by the media in a
democracy
- noting that by taking such measures, he will be affirming press freedom in
The Gambia
APPEALS TO:
H.E. President Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh
State House, Banjul
The Gambia
Fax: +220 227 034
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
For further information, contact IPI at Spiegelgasse 2, A-1010 Vienna,
Austria, tel: +43 1 512 90 11, fax: +43 1 512 90 14, e-mail: Michael Kudlak
at [log in to unmask], Barbara Trionfi at [log in to unmask], or David
Dadge at [log in to unmask], Internet site: www.freemedia.at
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 2001 IFEX. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media
(allAfrica.com).
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