Reporter Momodou S. Jallow of The Daily News |
By Modou S. Joof / YJAG Member
“Gambian police must
immediately stop harassing Momodou Jallow for giving voice to farmers’
grievances,” Africa Advocacy Coordinator for the US-based Committee to
Protect Journalists, CPJ Mohamed Keita said. “Repeatedly summoning a
journalist to court and threatening him with charges is intimidation
designed to silence criticism.”
His
call followed the arrest and release of Momodou S. Jallow, a reporter
working with the privately-owned The Daily News, newspaper in Banjul,
over an article captioned: "Presidential Hajj Package Scandal Chief
Baldeh Allegedly Bribes Lover”.
The
story was published on the newspaper on January 4, 2012, two days
later, he was arrested at Brikamaba and detained for about five hours at
the Bansang police station, more than 200 kilometers the Gambian
capital Banjul.
The Daily News
reported on its January 11 edition that it gathered from the police
spokesperson, Yerro Mballow that Momodou S. Jallow is charged with
"libel".
However, Jallow is yet
to be brought before a court of law and has been asked by the police to
report to the police station on several occasions. This, the CPJ said
is harassment of the journalist.
"Police
in Gambia are harassing a journalist for reporting farmers’ complaints
against a local official accused of mismanaging public resources," the
CPJ said on January 10, citing local journalists and news reports.
In
Jallow’s story in the Daily News, a rice farmer accused Chief Baldeh of
misallocating a ticket sponsored by President Yahya Jammeh to travel to
the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, known as the hajj. The article
also cited farmers raising questions about Baldeh’s management of the
finances of a local cooperative.
The
Accra-based press and free expression watchdog, the Media Foundation
for West Africa, MFWA said the journalist did his work diligently by
carrying the other side of the story. It raises concerns over the
authorities handling of the matter.
“At
the time the woman was making the allegation, the chief was not there.
So [Jallow] acted responsibly and contacted the chief”, the Vianna-based
International Press Institute (IPI) quoted Mr. Saikou Jammeh, the
newspaper's editor to have said. “This is fair and balanced. The
charges are out of place.”
“No
journalist should ever face criminal charges as a result of his or her
work,” said IPI Press Freedom Manager Anthony Mills. “We call for
charges against Momodou S. Jallow to be dropped immediately.”
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