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15 Danish Journalists End visit

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:08:47 GMT

Friday, November 21, 2008

Some 15 journalists from Denmark,including freelances and press officers under the auspices of DanishSchoolof Journalism, on Thursday concluded a...

Source: http://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/article/15-danish-journalists-end-visit

15 Danish Journalists End visit

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:20:49 GMT

Friday, November 21, 2008

Some 15 journalists from Denmark, including freelances and press officers under the auspices of DanishSchool of Journalism, on Thursday concluded a week-long study tour in The Gambia.

Speaking to this reporter at the Palm Beach Hotel shortly before their departure, a 53 year old Mr. Arne Bach Nielsen, a member of the team also Press Officer with the Danish Air Force, said they are on a traveled journalism course in the country. “Everybody in the group has traveled all over the world but for most of us this is our first time to visit The Gambia,” he said. He added that they decided to choose The Gambia because it’s cheap to come here and also safe because the country is peaceful.

“Personally I work at the air control wing of the air force. The unit is responsible for providing regular pictures of the plane and also I served as an editor of the official magazine of the air force between 2002 and 2006,” he revealed.

Turning back to the visit, Mr. Nielsen visited a water project in Geboro funded by the Danish Lottery club, Tourist Drivers Association office and also visited the fishermen at the beach. Meanwhile, other members of the team visited places like schools, football plays and hairdressing salons among other places. He described their stay in the country as very interesting and educational.

For his part, Lars Moller, the coach trainer of the team, said similar groups have been coming to The Gambia since 2001 and as a result you find all kinds of stories in different newspapers and magazines in Denmark regarding life in The Gambia and its culture.

Author: Nfamara Jawneh

WAJA Workshop on Conflict Prevention, Peacekeeping & The Promotion of Human Rights Is Under way in Banjul

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:28:24 GMT

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

A sub regional workshop on conflict prevention, peacekeeping and the promotion of human right is underway in Banjul the Gambia. The workshop brought together about thirty five journalists from the sub region for a period of three days beginning Tuesday the 14 October 2008.The workshop is currently taking place at the Kairaba Beach Hotel.

In delivering a statement on the occasion, Ibrahim Famakan Coulibally, the President of the West African Journalist Assiciation (WAJA) told the participants that WAJA apart from it efforts in building the capacity of its members in the sub region, is as well very much concern about the safety of its members. He said WAJA is still worried that the investigation into the killing of Deyda Hydara is still an unfinished work.The disappearance of Chief Ebrima Manneh is also a big concern to the WAJA as a sub regional body.

President Coulibally also raised concern about the situation of press freedom in Mouritania and the worsening situation of the media in Senegal. He said the tormenting of journalists in that country is a concern. He reiterated that WAJA will continue to stand firm against impunity against journalists in the region.He called on the governments in the region to investigate the killings of journalists and their disappearances.

He appealed to donors to continue supporting WAJA as it is the only professional body that operates in the region and stood firm for the promotion of the welfare of journalists in the region.

In her statement the Secretary of State for Information, Communication and Information Technology, Mrs. Fatim Badgie , told the participants that the Gambia government do recognized the role of journalists and do respect press freedom. she said over the years her government has an improved relationship with the media.

She told the participants that press freedom should go with responsibilities. The kind of conflict in Rwanda was one of the results of irresponsible journalism. She warns that journalists should desist from sowing the seeds of conflicts and racial hat rage.As a way of conflict prevention, Fatim said journalists should start showing documentaries of wars and post conflicts. People would then learn from such and would help prevent conflicts.

Ndey Tapha Sosseh, the president of the Gambia Press Union, who also is second VP of WAJA, told the workshop that this training is done in collaboration with WAJA. She said it will be one of exchange of ideas and will be insightful. The end product will be a production of a code of conduct. She urge all to take up the training seriously.

Author: Madi Ceesay

Source: conference

YIRIWA RADIO FM MANAGER GRANTED BAIL

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:19:22 GMT

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Pa Modou Bojang, the general manager of the Brikama community FM radio was intercepted on his way to Casamance at Jiboro village in the Gambia today 7 October 2008. Bojang until his arrest was involved in an ownership tussle over the community radio which he was manager for more than five years now.

He was on his way to his sister's funeral in the Casamance.At Jiboro he was intercepted and his hands were hand cuffed to the door of his own car, which was driven by the arresting officer. At the time of his arrest, he was with his wife Ya sainey Sanneh and his child was age six. The family were left starnded at Jiboro as he was driven to Banjul.At the offices of the National Intellegent Agency (NIA) his lap top and pass port were confisicated.

As manager his employers one Gambian Basiru Darbo and his Malian partner Abubacarr AL Turkey were in to disagreements as to who owns the radio. This went on for more than a month now and Bojang suffers as a result of that. Up to the time of going to press, it is not clear why he was arrested. Bojang is allowed bail at the tune of 1.5 million dalasi.

Author: Madi Ceesay

Source: none

West African journalists fight back

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:07:09 GMT

Monday, September 29, 2008

(Courtesy La Vérité)

This week marks a significant change in the press freedom climate for journalists in West Africa: Journalists, media organizations, and activists in the region fought back against attacks and censorship against the press, in contrast to a decade ago, when the media was too oppressed and scared to speak out. In Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Nigeria, they rallied to defend media outlets, showing that they will no longer stand by and watch these abuses continue unchecked.

On Monday, the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) imposed a news blackout on police activities in an effort to demand justice for journalists who were violently assaulted by police last month. Police personnel at the country's State House in the capital, Freetown, assaulted eight journalists covering a meeting between the two major political parties--the ruling All People's Congress Party and the opposition Sierra Leone People's Party--on August 13.

One of the reporters beaten was Alima Fofana, a reporter for The Exclusive newspaper. Fofana was beaten and kicked and then dragged onto the street in front of the State House entrance. She lost all her belongings in the struggle. The police ignored a joint police and SLAJ inquiry into the incident, SLAJ Assistant Secretary-General Mustapha Sesay reported. But after SLAJ President Phillip Neville issued a formal complaint and launched the press blackout on police reporting, the chairman of the Police Council, Sam Sumana, apologized to SLAJ and appealed to the association to lift the ban.

In mid-September, Guinea's pro-government media regulatory body, the National Communication Council (CNC), suddenly announced a three-month suspension of the popular independent weekly La Vérité (The Truth). CNC President Mounir Camara ordered the suspension over an article published in the September 12 edition headlined "Gentleman's Agreement Broken." The article was critical of the minister of Communications, the President of the Guinean Editors Association of the Independent Press, Souleymane Diallo, told CPJ. But the article in question did not mention the minister's name, nor did anyone lodge a complaint against the paper before the CNC decided to suspend the paper for defamation, La Vérité journalist Baaïla Bah told CPJ.

"An arrest warrant was delivered against me, but I still don't know what I did wrong," Bah said.

The journalists were released from police custody but the suspension order banned all of the paper's reporters from working for another media outlet during the suspension period. Some journalists consider La Vérité to be too closely aligned to former Prime Minister Lansana Kouyate. But this did not stop journalists and media organizations from rallying together this week to protest at the CNC, demanding that the suspension be lifted. Three media organizations--the Guinean Editors Association of the Independent Press, the Association of Guinean Journalists, and the Free Press Publishers Convention--among others, said they also plan to hold a meeting with the CNC president.

Finally, the Lagos president of the West African Bar Association, Femi Falana, and several other activists disclosed that they would sue the National Broadcasting Commission over the three-day closure of Channels TV. Falana, who spoke at a human rights meeting in Lagos last weekend, said it is necessary to challenge the closure to send a strong message to the federal government: In a democratic society, excesses will not be tolerated. Channels TV was suspended for three days, and five of its reporters were temporarily detained after the station broadcast an erroneous report about the Nigerian president resigning over health issues.

Security personnel raided the station's offices, and the broadcasting commission suspended the station--despite the fact its chairman, John Momoh, issued an apology to President Umaru Yar'Adua for the mistake. Falana also led the prosecution against the Gambian government in an ECOWAS court case, demanding Gambian authorities release the former Daily Observer journalist, Ebrima Manneh, who was arrested in 2006 and hasn't been heard from since.

Author: By Tom Rhodes/Africa Program Coordinator

Source: Courtesy CPJ

In Senegal, editor sentenced to prison, convictions in newspaper raids

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:16:21 GMT

Friday, September 12, 2008

New York, September 12, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed byaSenegalese judge’s decision today to sentence a newspaper editor to three years in prison on criminal charges in connection with an editorial about President Abdoulaye Wade and his son. Today's ruling came on the heels of Thursday's sentencing of 12 individuals to several years in prison for ransacking two private newspapers last month.

A criminal court judge in the capital, Dakar, convicted El Malick Seck, managing editor of the private daily 24 Heures Chrono, under several penal code statutes including offending the head of state, publishing false news, andthreatening public order, according to news reports. Seck has been jailed since he first faced police questioning in late August.

Defense lawyer Demba Ciré Bathily told CPJ that he has appealed the ruling, which also banned24 Heures Chrono from circulation for a period of three months. The paper has been in circulation since July, according to Editor-in-Chief Sambou Biagui.

“Despite repeated claims by President Abdoulaye Wade to end the use of criminal libel laws, El MalickSeck faces a severe prison sentence. Troubling as well is the censorship that has been imposed on24 Heures Chrono,” CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Tom Rhodes said. “Senegal’s press freedom credentials are deteriorating. CPJ urges the president to adhere to his pronouncements and ensure cases such as24 Heures Chrono are a thing of the past.”

The public prosecutor had requested a five-year prison term against Seck, who was arraigned on September 3 after five days of interrogation in the custody of the Criminal Investigations Division. Police impounded the offending edition of24 Heures Chrono, searched Seck’s residence, and temporarily sealed the newspaper over a front-page editorial saying that Wade and his son Karim, a special adviser, were implicated in a money-laundering case. Neither Wade nor his son have responded to the story, which was based on purported allegations made by an Ivorian politician in 2006, according to local journalists. No official allegation or charge has been made against Wade or his son.

The paper24 Heures Chrono was one of two vandalized last month, just three days after then-Transport Minister Farba Senghor threatened unspecified retaliation against the paper and three others over critical stories. Senghor denied any involvement, but he was sacked from the government, stripped of judicial immunity, and questioned by a judge over the incident.

On Thursday, a criminal court in Dakar sentenced 12 individuals, including a driver and two bodyguards of Senghor, to five to six years in prison and a total of 22 million CFA francs in damages, according to news reports.

Senegal has been considered a haven for press freedom in Africa, but this year has been marked by hostile government rhetoric toward the media.

CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit www.cpj.org.

Author: courtesy CPJ New Yoke USA

Source: Internet

TODAY Newspaper Ordered To Seize Publication With Immediate Effect

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:48:08 GMT

Thursday, September 11, 2008

The embattled editor of Today newspaper Mr. Abdul Hamid Adiamoh is ordered to stop publication with immediate effect from today the 11 September 2008 by the police.He was arrested this morning and new charges were made against him.Adiamoh will appear before a magistrate in Banjul tomorrow to face the newcharges.

The editor was standing trial on seditious charges at the Kanifing magistrate courts, for publishing an article about school children going scavenging metal at the disadvantage of their schooling in July of this year.

Appearing before magistrate Buba Jawo of the kanifing courts yesterday September the 10, The prosecution’s f irst witness , Assistant Superintendent Nomo Kujabi who is attached to the International Police (Interpol) when giving evidence against him, dwelt more on the editor of not paying his taxes for 2006/7. He also highlighted on the editor having category A permit, which do not allow him to register such a business like the today newspaper in which he registered in 2006.

During the trial yesterday, the prosecution did try to get the editor remanded, to give them chance to investigate more, but magistrate Jawo ruled against that saying the issues of tax evasion looks big but is not an issue before his court. The case was then adjourned to the 29 of September 2008.

The closure of Today newspaper will make it the fifth media house closed by the police without any court orders in the country. The previous ones were The Citizen Fm, The Citizen newspaper, the Sud FM, and the Independent newspaper.

Author: Madi M.K.Ceesay

Source: none

GPU to Host WAJA Excellence Awards, Others

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 06:42:09 GMT

Thursday, September 11, 2008

The Gambia Press Union will Thursday October 16th host the first edition of the West African Journalist Association (WAJA) Excellence Awards 2008 at the Kairaba Beach Hotel, a news release from the GPU reveals.

The awards, the release stated, which will be presented to the three best print, radio and TV journalists from the sub-region is on the theme ‘Conflict Prevention, Peace and Human Rights’.

According to the release, the ceremony will be held on the back of a three day (October 14th – 16th0 sub-regional workshop on the same theme.

“The workshop will focus on amongst other things improving and broadcasting the understanding and perspectives of print and broadcast journalists on human rights, conflict prevention and peace issues and, will draw thirty (30) participants from the fifteen (15) ECOWAS member countries and the Republic of Mauritania.

“Short listed award winners will also take part in the workshop”, the release added.

During this period, the release went on, the steering committee of the WAJA capacity building project based in Bamako will also be meeting in Banjul to discuss the plan of action and budget for 2009.

“The activities, supported by the African Capacity Building Foundation, are organised by the Gambia Press Union in collaboration with the West African Journalist Association”, the release concludes.

NIA Operatives At The Yiriwa FM

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 03:31:45 GMT

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

The Manager of Yiriwa FM, Pa Modou Bojang, informed Media Agenda’s current affairs that he was technically detained on Tuesday the 26 August, and Wednesday the 27 August 2008 of last week over the battle of ownership of the Yiriwa FM, a developmental radio station in rural town of Brikama in the western region. He said, that was the second time he was being interrogated at the NIAs offices.

According to reports the interrogation of Bojang came in the wake of a dispute involving one Basiru Darboe and Aboubacatt Al Turkey , a Malian citizen who have being residing in the country for a very long time, over the ownership of the radio.

Darboe’s lawyer Lamin Jorbateh have since written a letter to the radio, which lawyer Lamin Mboge counsel for radio confirmed receiving and he too send a similar letter on behalf of his client to the other party.

The radio was visited by the NIA operatives and some questiong were made.The radio has not been stop for their normal programme as the dispute is being handled by the NIAs.The radio is curently going with programmes, said the manager.

Author: Madi Ceesay

Source: Interview

Today Newspaper Boss In court

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:43:15 GMT

Friday, August 29, 2008

Abdul Hamid Adiamoh, the editor and proprietor of TODAY newspaper was on Thursday 28 August 2008, charged with seditious intention after a publication of a story indicating children dodge school to look for scrap metals for sale at the expense of their schooling. He is standing trial before Principal Magistrate Buba Jawo of the kanifing magistrate courts.

According to the particulars of the alleged offence the accuse Hamid on or about the 15 of July 2008, at kanifing Municipality printed and distributed or reproduces a story in his newspaper, children dodge from school to pick scrap metals.

The embattled journalist was reporting to the police head quarters since July of this year and was on two occasions detained for a couple of days. On Wednesday 27 August 2008, when he reported at the Banjul police for his usual reporting, he was made to wait until 3pm, there after he was informed that he will be appearing before the court, to answer to some charges made against him.

Reaching the courts at Kanifing, there was no judge to hear his case, so he was detained over night at the kotu police station, till Thursday morning the 28 august 2008.

Hamid is granted a court bail in the sum of D2000, 000, with a Gambian surety, and the case is adjourned to the 10 September 2008, for proper hearing. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

It will be recalled the same magistrate has just handed a heavy fine of D250, 000 on Fatou Jaw Manneh a few days ago. It was also the same judge who found Lamin Fatty guilty and fine him D50, 000.00.the two are journalists in the country.

Author: Madi Ceesay

Source: courts