Mr Cherno Jallow,
    You wrote:-
<<And we couldn't either at the time. Better still, Jallow's allegations are
one-sided,
a narration of events, he indicated to have been spoon-fed to him by those he
alleged to have "killed" Koro.>>

    If Ebou's allegation/revelations are so ridiculous, and unsubstantiable
rubbish,
why then did the Jammeh regime seemed it fitting to ban VoiceOut?

I am no journalist, and have no knowledge of the ethics of this very important
and
noble profession, but I was, and still am with the notion that if a story is
printed in
paper/media, and is then refuted by one party or another, then what that party
has
to do is to counter the claim with proof, in other word prove it's false.

Why were the involved parties not given these opportunities in this case?

Why didn't you contact the "other party" and challenge them to refute Ebou's
allegations/revelations?

Please forgive me here, if am out of my depths here, as I stated earlier on
am not much versed in journalistic ethics and practices? But one thing which
comes out crystal clear to me is that your paper's decision not to print
"the one-sided story" is truly "amazing" to say the least.
It's a bit mind-buggling, in'it?

All the best
Mr Manneh
chernob jallow wrote:

> Bamba,
>
> I agree with your feelings. It's sad that Ebou Jallow's allegations couldn't
> get through to the Ceesay family or the Gambian people. We all would have
> loved to paste his allegations on our newspapers, but provided they could be
> substantiated by him or by us, in our own investigations. Jallow was already
> in the US;there was no way he could be sought to confirm in a court of law,
> the validity of his allegations. And we couldn't either at the time. Better
> still, Jallow's allegations are one-sided, a narration of events, he
> indicated to have been spoon-fed to him by those he alleged to have "killed"
> Koro. Yes, it would have been nice to the Ceesay family or the Gambian
> public, to have been told the "circumstances surrounding Koro's death"
> according to Ebou Jallow. But what if Jallow's allegations turned out false?
>
> Presumably, you've already made up your mind that Jallow's revealations are
> true or are verifiable by his own narration of events. Personally, I think
> that in as much as Jallow's allegations do give a glint of information from
> within, about Koro's death, they, however, should be viewed carefully. They
> may be true or false, but only a competent court of law or a commission of
> inquiry can authenticate them. And those he alleges to have "killed" Koro
> are "innocent" until proven guilty in a court of law or by a competent
> Coroner's inquest. So to publish his allegations, which were one-sided,
> unsubstantiated, unverifiable at the time, would have been legally costly,
> if not, dangerous to a newspaper's existence at the time.
>
> Recently, Jallow used the "Voiceout" column of the Gambianet to spread his
> allegations. Now, his information is domestic consumption in The Gambia. You
> think that if the Observer had carried his allegations, that probably would
> have "compelled others with some knowledge of what happened to come forward
> with their own version?" I doubt it. Quite recently, Local Government
> Minister Yankuba Touray,whom Jallow alleges to have taken part in Koro's
> death, villified the former AFPRC spokesman, rather than give his version of
> the story pertaining to Jallow's allegations. Following Jallow's information
> on Voiceout, the proprietors of Gambianet were summoned to the NIA, and
> subsequently, Voiceout disappeared from Gambianet. Rather than speak on
> Jallow's allegations and present their own version of the story, Jallow's
> alleged culprits simply resorted to authoritarianism by clamping down on
> Gambianet. Could a similar fate have happened to any Gambian newspaper which
> published Jallow's allegations, especially if there were no substantiation
> efforts on the part of the newspapers, and during those dark, lean days of
> press intimidation?
>
> Like I said before, newspapers have to be very careful not to publish
> information they cannot substantiate when asked, in court, or by national
> public opinion. In as much as we would have loved to render service to the
> Gambian people by publishing Jallow's letter, we were equally restrained by
> our bounden duty to publish something verifiable by us or the source of the
> allegations.
>
> I, personally, have written a lot in taking the AFPRC government to task for
> foot-dragging on any investigations into Koro's mysterious death. I
> interviewed the Ceesay family,and wrote a scathing column on the AFPRC's
> false pretences of pain and misery over Koro's death, when they're unwilling
> or unable to mount an inquiry into the late Finance Minister's mysterious
> death.
>
> Thanks for your comments. Bye.
>
> Cherno Baba Jallow
> Detroit, MI
>
> >From: Bamba Laye <[log in to unmask]>
> >Reply-To: Bamba Laye <[log in to unmask]>
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: Ebou Jallows' revelations
> >Date: Sun, 26 Dec 1999 20:15:00 -0600
> >
> >Cherno,
> >You wrote:
> >"Upon receipt of Jallow's letter, Daily Observer's editorial board sat down
> >to determine the publishability of Jallow's contents on KOro's death. We
> >agreed that they were serious allegations concerning senior members of the
> >Ruling Council. And since there was no way to validate Jallow's
> >allegations,
> >we decided not to publish them, but only to put out an 'overview' story on
> >Jallow's resignation letter."
> >
> >This is quite an interesting revelation from your end Bro. I am curious
> >(and I am sure many on the list are) to know why your editorial board
> >decided to discard Ebous' revelations at a time when it could have served
> >justice in giving Koros' family and the entire Gambia an idea of the actual
> >circumstances surrounding Koros' death. Don't you think that publishing the
> >letter would have compelled others with some knowledge of what happened to
> >come forward with their own version? Don't you feel that you've done some
> >disservice to the people by not publishing the letter or atleast hinting at
> >why you think the letter should not be published?
> >I am also interested in knowing if Foroyaa had a copy of this letter and
> >what have been done about it with regards to their own investigation into
> >the matter?  I will be glad if Mr. Sallah could clarify this for me.
> >
> >Have a great week and stay safe.
> >
> >Abdoulie A. Jallow
> >
> >"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter".
> >  - Dr. M. L. King Jr.
>
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