Brother Bailo Jallow, I join you in expressing very sincere deligt in Mr. Ceesay's receiving this prestigious award. I hope many more will be equally courageous, like him, in defending everyone's right to speak their mind. many thanks, sidibeh 2006/11/30, bailo jallow <[log in to unmask]>: > > Fellow G-Lers, > Please join me in congragulating Mr Madi Ceesay, President of the Gambia > Press Union for the highly prestigious International Press Freedom Award > bestowed on him by the Commitee for the Protection of Journalists. > > Bravo Madi, Keep it up! > > Bailo > > > The following is culled from the latest edition of the Forroyaa newspaper: > > GPU President Receives Prestigious Award > The president of The Gambia Press Union (GPU) and General Manager of the > Independent, Mr. Madi Ceesay, on Tuesday 21st November received the > prestigious > Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPS) International Press > Freedom > Award at Waldorf â€" Astoria in New York City, U.S.A. Mr. Ceesay is also > Deputy President(s) of the West African Association of Journalists (WAAJ). > The USA in their press release on the occasion noted that the award “is > indeed a fitting award to an independent and deserving journalist.†We > publish > below the full text of the speech delivered by Mr. Ceesay at the occasion: > In the name of all the journalists back home in the Gambia, I would first > like to thank the Committee to Protect Journalists, and all those who > contributed to my nomination. I would also like to thank my family for all > the support > they have given me. > Today is a great day in my life as a journalist. I would like to accept > this > prestigious award in the name of all independent journalists in the Gambia > who continue to work hard despite a very hostile media environment. > Ladies and gentlemen, let me describe to you the sad climate in which we > work. In the past few years, we have seen repeated arson attacks on > journalists > and their media houses, without a single suspect being brought before the > courts. Four media houses have been shut down by government, including my > own > newspaper. > In December 2004, our colleague Deyda Hydara, editor of The Point > newspaper, > was murdered in a drive-by shooting. It was a shock to all journalists in > the Gambia, who felt a great loss and also a sense of fear that such a > thing > could happen in our country. Government investigators have not brought > anyone > to justice so far. They produced a report that seemed to blame Deyda for > his > own death… and did not address the question of who killed him. > After my newspaper was shut down and I was imprisoned in March this year, > several other journalists were also detained, and one journalist has been > missing for more than three months. One of my colleagues from the > Independent is being tried for publishing false information, under a law > which could bring a > possible jail sentence. > Ladies and gentlemen, the Gambia is a small country, and some of you may > not > be familiar with it. But our problems are typical of many African > countries, > where the independent press is struggling to hold governments > accountable… > governments which may profess to be democratic but violate democratic > principles such as press freedom. > Ladies and gentlemen, Gambia’s embattled independent media desperately > needs > support. I call on you to help us by speaking up when abuses occur. We > also > need practical support to strengthen the Gambian media, so that we will be > better able to investigate abuses and report on issues of vital public > interest > Once again, thanks to CPJ for this great honor, and thank you all for your > attention. > > Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com > > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ > To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L > Web interface > at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html > > To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: > http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l > To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: > [log in to unmask] > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ >