22 May 2007

Alert

Journalist arrested, threatened with death by police officer for trying to cover student protest


Incident details

Fabakarr Ceesay

journalist(s)

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 18 May 2007, Fabakarr Ceesay, a reporter with the pro-opposition bi-weekly "Foroyaa Newspaper", was arrested and threatened by an officer of the Police Intervention Unit (PIU), a paramilitary wing of the Gambia Police Force, while covering a student demonstration.

Ceesay was threatened with death and detained for about 45 minutes at the PIU headquarters in Kanifing, a district in Serrekunda, Gambia's largest city, before being released.

An MFWA source reported that the incident occurred when Ceesay sought to cover a student demonstration. The students were protesting the arrest of some of their colleagues.

The source said that, upon realizing that Ceesay was a journalist, a PIU officer arrested him, seized his press card, and threatened him with a gun saying, "We can kill you and nothing will come out of it. . . You journalists are liars and unpatriotic."



Source

Media Foundation for West Africa
PO Box LG 730
30 Duade Street, Kokomlemle
Legon, Accra
Ghana
alerts (@) mediafound.org
Phone: +233 21 242470
Fax: +233 21 221084
 

The Gambia

Five years on, murder of editor Deyda Hydara remains unsolved 17 December 2009 UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention calls for Manneh's release 24 November 2009 Government backtracks in case of tortured journalist 9 November 2009 Justice ministers endorse experts' decision on ECOWAS jurisdiction 14 October 2009 President grants pardon to six journalists jailed on defamation charges 4 September 2009


 
The International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX) is a global network of 88 organisations working to defend and promote the right to free expression.
Permission is granted for material on this website to be reproduced or republished in whole or in part provided the source member and/or IFEX is cited with a link to the original item.