The director-general of the Gambia’s state TV and radio broadcaster, Momodou Sabally, was dimissed last week and immediately arrested by the security services on unspecified charges.

Soon after, a reporter with the same broadcaster, GRTS, Bakary Fatty, was also detained by members of the national intelligence agency, reported Gainako.

These arrests were followed by a third. Alhagie Manka, a documentary maker, TV director and and photojournalist, was taken into custody after taking photographs of a presidential motorcade.

All three have yet to appear in court, which is said by Human Rights Watch (HRW), to be a violation of Gambian law.

The arrests come ahead of elections set for 1 December in which the president, Yahya Jammeh, will be seeking a fifth consecutive five-year term. Widely described as a dictator, he took power in Gambia in a 1994 military coup and has since won four elections.

HRW has raised concerns about the fairness of the latest election, contending that Jammeh’s security forces have previously used enforced disappearances, torture, intimidation and arbitrary arrests to suppress dissent and preserve Jammeh’s grip on power.

Momodou Sabally was once regarded as a supporter of Jammeh, having held a ministerial post. But he was fired last year and then held in prison for four months before making a surprising comeback as GRTS director-general.

According to local activists who have spoken to HRW, it is believed Sabally was arrested because the station broadcast footage of an opposition candidate’s nomination at the time when it was scheduled to cover an agricultural initiative led by the first lady, Zineb Jammeh.



Gambia’s election campaign began with the jailing of 30 opposition supporters, including the leader of the United Democratic Party, for their role in peaceful protests in April. They received three-year sentences.

Omar Malleh Jabang, a businessman and opposition supporter said to fund opposition politicians, was arrested and detained last week, and has since been held incommunicado without charge.

HRW’s deputy programme director, Babatunde Olugboji, said: “The Gambian government’s arrest of three journalists before the start of the presidential election campaign could have a chilling effect on the media’s ability to fairly cover the election.

“Fair elections are only possible if all candidates and parties can freely campaign and journalists can report freely.”

Sources: Freedom (1) and (2) /Gainako (1) and (2)/HRW