"Reviewing the situation, the union is satisfied that the paper has committed
no crime and that the matter could have been handled differently without
resorting to high-handedness.
The invasion of the Independent office and the mass arrest, detention
incommunicado of its staff, coming close on the heels of the official order
of July 23 to the paper to cease publication, point once again to
government's relentless campaign to silence the free press whose only crime
is that they dare to differ.
Therefore, in the interest of our fledgling democracy, a free press is an
indispensable guard against the prospect of this country being classed among
the fascist states of the new millennium."
***********************************************Reply separator
Indeed, as Malanding said, actions do speak louder than words. This is
part of the continuing and intensifying high-handed tactics used by the
present government to silence any dissenting voice, and secure a life-time
rule. Their aim is to silence any voice that dares to be critical of this
"pirate operation" masquerading as a legitimate government. The fact that
people who operate in this fashion actually expect to be taken seriously by
the rest of the World, as well as those they are supposedly representing is
beyond belief. The proprietor of Citizen's FM, my former school mate Mr
Baboucarr Gaye, was harassed and silenced using the very same tactics, and
since they seem to have gotten away with that, why not again? To the
proprietors and staff of the independent, l say please continue to be a
voice for the people in a country where those who are supposed to protect
our interests and our rights, have nothing but a clear agenda to
subjugate, silence and instill fear in us so that they can stay in power
for as long as they live. How sad that in most of Africa, if not all, those
who seek political power do not seem to have a grasp of a very basic
process, namely that being elected to office does not mena that you have to
stay there forever. So, instead of focussing on the tasks at hand, alas,
they polish their skills and tactics on how to stay in office forever.That
statement by the July 22nd movement was but a sign of this kind of
thinking. As l mentioned before, the message clearly was "one party, one
president for life, and only those newspapers that print what is favourable
to the present government." It is a very sad day for our country.We are in
the grips of tyranny, and whoever does not want to believe this is fooling
themselves.
Jabou Joh
In a message dated 8/3/99 7:51:35 PM Central Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
<< Folks, this is from The Daily Observer Aug 3, 99. The old adage goes
"Action
speaks louder than words"!
Malanding Jaiteh
Independent editors released
The editors of the Independent newspaper, Baba Galleh Jallow and Alhaji
Yoro Jallow, who were arrested Sunday night by officers of the National
Intelligence Agency were released last night.
NB Daffeh, reporter, who was arrested Friday morning was also released.
Speaking to the Daily Observer shortly after their release, Baba Galleh
Jallow, editor-in-chief, said, "we were told this afternoon that we were
arrested because we did not have the authorisation and the requisite
documents to operate a newspaper. From our understanding, the NIA was given
the impression that we did not have the authorisation to publish and that we
did not have the affidavit and other documentation to publish a newspaper.
We've been asked to report to the NIA at 9am tomorrow and take along copies
of these documents which we will do."
Narrating his experiences at the NIA, NB Daffeh said, "the only unfortunate
thing is that I was treated like a criminal. I was dumped in a cell together
with some criminals and I slept on the bare floor."
In reaction to the incident, the Gambia Press Union, yesterday issued a
press statement condemning the arrests. We reproduce the full text of the
statement:
The harassment of the staff of the Independent newspaper has taken a turn
for the worst with the arrest of the paper's editor-in-chief and managing
editor, Baba Galleh Jallow and Yorro Jallow respectively on Sunday.
On Friday the entire support staff and a staff reporter, NB Daffeh were
picked up from the Independent office. They were whisked to NIA
headquarters where they were cautioned not to work for the paper and
released, except for NB Daffeh. He is still in detention.
This development is a cause of great concern and alarm to the Gambia Press
Union, which further believes that the crisis is being blown out of
proportion.
Reviewing the situation, the union is satisfied that the paper has committed
no crime and that the matter could have been handled differently without
resorting to high-handedness.
The invasion of the Independent office and the mass arrest, detention
incommunicado of its staff, coming close on the heels of the official order
of July 23 to the paper to cease publication, point once again to
government's relentless campaign to silence the free press whose only crime
is that they dare to differ.
Therefore, in the interest of our fledgling democracy, a free press is an
indispensable guard against the prospect of this country being classed among
the fascist states of the new millennium.
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