Anti-Media-Bill campaign set to pick up steam GPU will sue the State if…

The Gambia Press Union has re-emphasised their resolve to sue the state if
the National Media Commission Bill is assented to by President Jammeh who
according to constitutional stipulations has less than ten days to do so. D
A Jawo the president of the GPU outlined that they have began consultations
with their lawyers and had met with other stakeholders, with a view to
laying the groundwork for an appropriate response should President Jammeh
append his signature on the bill. Mr. Jawo told The Independent Friday that
they were very confident of challenging the State on the basis of the
‘draconian’ nature of the Bill in the Supreme Court.

He said although it would be remarkably positive if the president should
refrain from appending his signature on the bill, which he described as
riddled with draconian provisions inimical to press freedom, the GPU would
be swift on the uptake to continue their campaign against it in the courts.
Mr. Jawo who pointed out the GPU’s trust and confidence in the country’s
judicial system, said since the campaign against the Bill was launched,
local and international responses have pitched up in ardent support of
freedom of the press and the uninterrupted flowering of the culture of
freedom of expression in The Gambia.

He said international concerns have been quick to join the chorus of
justified dissent against a Bill, whose enactment by the National Assembly
has rendered Gambian journalists at the mercy of President Jammeh’s
decision, which would decide whether it becomes an addition to our statute
books. Jawo asserted that going by the enthusiastic nature of the response,
the GPU has every reason to believe that lawyers on the local scene and
international bodies would help the union with the expertise and the
resources should the ‘battle against the Bill’ begin in the Supreme Court.

The GPU boss said they were not as a matter of principle opposed to the
establishment of a Media Commission, whose composition would involve members
of the private media and mandated to operate on the basis of provisions that
are a far cry from ‘the draconian ones in the Bill’. He said it was
outrageous that after being invited to the task force responsible for
working out the modalities of a prospective media commission, a totally
different Bill was drawn that negates the laudable work of independent
journalists, whom it seems to be targeting.







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