Third journalist from leading newspaper arrested
New York, April 12, 2006—A third journalist from The Independent, a leading Gambian newspaper, was arrested at his home this afternoon, according to his colleagues. Reporter Lamin Fatty’s arrest follows that of Editor Musa Saidykhan and General Manager Madi Ceesay, who have been detained without charge since March 28. Fatty was the author of a…
Third journalist from leading newspaper arrested
New York, April 12, 2006—A third journalist from The Independent, a leading Gambian newspaper, was arrested at his home this afternoon, according to his colleagues. Reporter Lamin Fatty’s arrest follows that of Editor Musa Saidykhan and General Manager Madi Ceesay, who have been detained without charge since March 28. Fatty was the author of a…
Journalists still held, raising alarm
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the detention since early Tuesday of two senior journalists for the private newspaper The Independent, whose offices were also sealed off by security forces. Editor Musa Saidykhan and General Manager Madi Ceesay, who is also secretary-general of the Gambia Press Union, have now been in custody for more than three days without being informed of the reasons, according to CPJ sources. Gambian law normally requires that they be brought before a court within a three-day period, a local lawyer confirmed.
Gambian journalists, still held, say reason for detention unclear
New York, March 30, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by the detention since early Tuesday of two senior journalists for The Independent private newspaper, whose offices were sealed off by security forces. Police allowed Editor Musa Saidykhan and General Manager Madi Ceesay, who is also secretary-general of the Gambia Press Union, to…
Gambian security forces seal off leading newspaper, arrest staff
New York, March 28, 2006—Plainclothes Gambian security agents today sealed the offices of the twice-weekly newspaper The Independent and arrested staffers found on the premises, local journalists told the Committee to Protect Journalists. Most of the staff members were released after brief questioning, but Editor Musa Saidykhan and General Manager Madi Ceesay remained in custody…
Police bar journalists from site of editor’s murder on 1st anniversary
Statement prepared by the Committee to Protect Journalists in New York on December 15, 2005, to be read by Tidiane Sy on behalf of CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper, Africa Program Coordinator Julia Crawford, and the CPJ board of directors.
Murder story may have sparked interrogation
New York, October 27, 2005—The editor of The Independent newspaper was detained today and interrogated for several hours by Gambian state intelligence agents, who instructed him to return for more questioning on Friday. Local journalists said they believe Musa Saidykhan is being harassed in connection with a recent article on the unsolved December 2004 murder…
In Dangerous Assignments, information war rages in Chechnya
New York, May 27, 2005—The Kremlin has waged a brutally effective information war in Chechnya using repressive policies, restrictive rules, subtle censorship, and outright attacks on journalists, Alex Lupis reports in the new edition of Dangerous Assignments. The spring/summer edition of the magazine is now available from the Committee to Protect Journalists. Also in the…
The Independent forced to stop publishing
New York, May 16, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned that the biweekly newspaper The Independent, which lost its printing press in an unsolved arson in April 2004, has been forced to stopped publishing entirely after its printing arrangement with the private Daily Observer was abruptly terminated. The Independent has not published since…