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Alert

"False information" case against journalist repeatedly adjourned

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 7 November 2006, a magistrate's court adjourned to 20 November the trial of Lamin Fatty, a reporter with the banned Banjul-based bi-weekly "The Independent", who is charged with publishing false information.

This is the fifth time the case has been adjourned since it began in June.

MFWA sources say the trial was adjourned because of the absence of police prosecutor Momodou Mballow. Magistrate Kebba Sanyang said Mballow was attending a training programme. He also said that the last witness for the state, Malamin Sanneh, command officer of the Major Crimes Unit of the Gambia Police Force (GPF), was out of the country.

However, defence counsel Lamin Camara applied for the case to be struck down and his client discharged because of "too much delay" by the prosecution. The magistrate overruled the application on the grounds that the prosecution still needed to be given time.

Fatty is charged under section 181 of the Criminal Code, which, in its amended form, makes the publication of "false information" a criminal and punishable offence. He faces a minimum of six months in jail without the option of a fine if convicted.

The 24 March edition of "The Independent" erroneously reported Samba Bah, a former minister of interior and former head of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), as among those arrested in the aftermath of an alleged coup. The newspaper subsequently published Bah's notice of correction and also apologized to him.

Notwithstanding the apology, police raided the offices of "The Independent" and arrested all staff members, including Madi Ceesay and Musa Saidykhan, general manager and editor, respectively. They have since been released without charge.

Fatty was arrested by the Gambian police on 10 April and detained for 63 days.