BANJUL – A court in Gambia found six journalists guilty of sedition and criminal defamation yesterday for backing a press union statement critical of the west African country’s government, a legal source said.
The charges against the journalists had been condemned by global press freedom groups and had increased the concerns of western donors over the country of 1.8 million, a tourist destination for European holidaymakers.
The journalists could face fines or imprisonment. They include three members of the Gambia Press Union, two reporters from the Pointnewspaper and one working for Foroyaanewspaper. One of the journalists for the Point,Pap Saine, also reports for Reuters.
Seven were arrested in June after the press union issued a statement critical of the government’s treatment of journalists, especially after the killing in 2004 of veteran reporter Deyda Hydara. One of the seven was later released.
In Paris, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders condemned the court’s decision.
“The journalists have been found guilty of sedition and criminal defamation, only because they expressed their opinion and held the government to account,” said Ambroise Pierre, head of the group’s Africa desk.
The Vienna-based International Press Institute said the case should never have been brought in the first place.
“It is an outrage and a yet severer setback in Gambia’s media freedom climate. If one looks across Africa and the Middle East, the trend is not encouraging,” spokesman Anthony Mills said.
Mills said many countries throughout Africa and the Middle East retained laws on defamation, terrorism and national security that were abused to silence opposition criticism.
Reporters Without Borders said last month that Gambia had the worst record on press freedom in west Africa. – (Reuters)