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| Momodou |
Posted - 23 Sep 2023 : 19:11:07
Gambian journalist Bakary Mankajang arrested, charged over reporting on killings
September 22, 2023
https://cpj.org/2023/09/gambian-journalist-bakary-mankajang-arrested-charged-over-reporting-on-killings-in-senegal/
New York, September 22, 2023— The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the immediate and unconditional release of journalist Bakary Mankajang after his arrest by Gambian police in connection with his reporting on police killings.
“Gambian authorities must swiftly and unconditionally release journalist Bakary Mankajang, drop all charges against him, and allow him to work freely,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa program coordinator in Durban, South Africa, on Friday. “The detention and prosecution of Mankajang for his reporting is a chilling reminder of the country’s past under the Yahya Jammeh dictatorship and a betrayal of its democratic gains.”
Jammeh, who took over the West African nation in a 1994 coup, has been accused of multiple human rights abuses, including the killing and torture of opposition members and journalists, during his 22 years in office.
Gambian police spokesperson Modou Musa Sissawo told CPJ by phone on Friday that Mankajang remained in detention and was charged with “interference with witnesses” in connection with his reporting at Casamance, an area of Senegal south of Gambia, where Mankajang had travelled to investigate the murder of two police officers allegedly killed in Gambia by a Casamance resident.
Interference with witnesses is a misdemeanor, which carries up to two years imprisonment and a fine, according to Sections 34 and 102 of the criminal code.
Mankajang recently traveled to Casamance to conduct interviews about the killings, according to a Facebook post by the journalist and a statement by local trade group Gambia Press Union. Mankajang is an independent reporter who posts on TikTok and a Facebook page called Mankajang Daily, which collectively have about 70,000 followers.
Mankajang has been detained since officers arrested the journalist on Wednesday, September 20, after he responded to a police summons at Faji Kunda police station outside the capital, Banjul, according to the GPU statement and the journalist’s Facebook post. |
| 2 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Momodou |
Posted - 23 Sep 2023 : 19:13:45
The accusation against Mankajang is, at best, very silly. When we did our recent story on rape of 2 children and assault on 3 others by a white guy, that the police officer involved worked so hard to bury, we both were investigating it together.
https://preview.shorthand.com/alOMhmht1fS7GYOp
Do you think we should have been charged with interfering with a witness? If we were by a corrupt cop whose only goal were to kill a case, would this story have been written?
A see a number of folks throwing around what is obviously a meaningless statement "allow police do their job". Who is stopping the police from doing their job?
The journalists have a much broader mandate than the police. Not only do we report crime, we also report on police conduct as they combat it.
This is, perhaps, the single biggest threat to investigative journalism since 2016. It is not okay!!!
By Mustapha-Swandi K Darboe |
| Momodou |
Posted - 23 Sep 2023 : 19:12:08
Drop Charges against Journalist Bakary Mankajang
By Madi Jobarteh
I hereby call on the IGP to immediately release and drop all charges against citizen journalist Bakary Mankajang. The actions of Mankajang to interview witnesses does not interfere with or obstruct police investigations into the September 12 fatal shooting of PIU officers. Hence the police must not drag itself into actions that con only derail and undermine their work.
It is perfectly within journalistic work for journalists to interview victims and alleged perpetrators and their families, colleagues, neighbors, bystanders and acquaintances. This action does not in any way conflict with police investigations. Witnesses are not the property of the police such that no one should talk to them. And by talking to witnesses, journalists even help the police to gain better understanding of the factors and actors in an incident. Above all, not every witness is a subject of police investigation.
Therefore the arrest and charges against Mankajang is unlawful, counterproductive and unprofessional. It is merely an intimidation of the journalist and the media as a whole, as well threatening witnesses themselves. It is an act of weaponizing laws and institutions purposely to infringe on rights. The police has no authority to deny witnesses from talking to the media and anybody for that matter. Doing so is to suppress the freedoms of witnesses. There is no law that says a crime witness cannot talk to a journalist about what he or she saw or knows.
The IGP must be therefore advised to act with professionalism and conduct his functions in line with the law at all times. That is what will help the police to diligently solve issues and gain public trust and confidence. By arresting journalists, denying suspects their rights and threatening witnesses can only undermine not only public trust in the police but also undermine the integrity of their investigations hence undermine the course and objective of justice.
Bakary Mankajang has a right to conduct his work as a citizen journalist including interviewing crime witnesses without fetters. Free him and drop all charges!!!
For The Gambia Our Homeland |
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