baba ,our case is still very sad. how can the authorities do this ? but as you say ,''orders from above '' .
Baba Galleh Jallow <[log in to unmask]> wrote: COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS
330 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001 USA Phone: (212) 465-1004 Fax: (212)
465-9568 Web: www.cpj.orgHYPERLINK
Tom Rhodes | Africa Program Coordinator | [log in to unmask] | (+221) 238-3247
Mohamed Keita | Africa Program Research Associate | [log in to unmask] | (212)
300-9004
In Gambia, government-held reporter sighted at hospital
New York, July 30, 2007— The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned
by reports that a Gambian reporter, arrested a year ago and since held
incommunicado without charge or trial by the government, was briefly
admitted last week to Gambia’s main hospital in the capital, Banjul.
“Chief” Ebrima B. Manneh, the State House correspondent for the private,
pro-government Daily Observer, was arrested without charge by plainclothes
security agents on July 7, 2006, in connection with an unpublished story
critical of Gambian President Yahya Jammeh. Authorities refused to comment
on the arrest until February, when police publicly denied holding the
journalist.
“We hold Gambian authorities responsible for the well-being of Chief Ebrima
B. Manneh,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “His continued
imprisonment without charge or trial and the official denial of his
detention in the face of contrary evidence is disturbing. We renew an urgent
call for the authorities to immediately release him.”
On Wednesday, Manneh is said to have been admitted to the Royal Victoria
Teaching Hospital for treatment of high blood pressure—a condition he
allegedly developed in detention, according to U.S.-based Gambian news Web
site Senegambianews and the Ghana-based press freedom group Media Foundation
of West Africa. Agents from the Police Intervention Unit and prison
officials transferred the journalist after a few hours to a military clinic
in Banjul, according to the same sources, which cited an eyewitness account.
A relative of Manneh, who asked not to be identified for fear of government
retribution, told CPJ that a separate source confirmed the hospital visit
for an alleged checkup. Manneh did not have a history of high blood
pressure, the relative said.
Hospital spokesman Baboucarr Ngum told CPJ, “I have no idea who gets
admitted in the hospital,” without denying or confirming the reports. He
referred inquiries to the chief medical director. Police spokesman Suleyman
Secka did not return CPJ’s calls.
The Media Foundation of West Africa recently filed suit against the
government of Gambia at the Community Court of Justice of the Economic
Community of West African States seeking the journalist’s immediate release
and compensation for his time spent incarcerated. A government
representative failed to appear at a July 16 preliminary hearing in Abuja,
Nigeria.
The Committee to Protect Journalists named this year Gambia one of the
world’s worst backsliders on press freedom.
CPJ is a New York–based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to
safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit www.cpj.org.
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