Press Releases on Fatou Jaw Manneh’s Conviction
STGDP PRESS RELEASE
The unjust conviction of Fatou Jaw Manneh today by Magistrate Buba Jawo is seen by the STGDP as a conviction against all Gambians in the Diaspora and a total disregard for the constitution and the rule of law. The very magistrate that said he did not have the jurisdiction to hear the case barefacedly buckled under pressure and called the case for the state. This verdict demonstrates the total erosion of democracy and the rule of law in the Gambia.
President Jammeh and his government used this case to send a message to all Gambians that this country belongs to him, and will not hesitate to use everything at his disposal to make sure that we feel his autocratic rule. STGDP has always believe that our fight against Jammeh is never about him, but what he represents: he has denied freedom to all Gambians, high jacked out judiciary, and will not hesitate to lean on the crop of unprincipled and corrupt judges to have the outcome he wishes; he has waged a war against press freedom, and will use the security apparatus as his tools to fight institution and people seen as his enemies.
STGDP would like to make it abundantly clear to President Jammeh that, if this was a message to us, you can be rest assured that you have only embolden our desire to continue our struggle to bring an end to the subjugation of our people. We will never capitulate; it is not a question of whether is it worth the price but rather can we afford not to continue the fight for our freedom.
Sincerely
Chairman STGDP
Musa Jeng.
Gambia UPDATE: Convicted journalist to appeal against sentence
Lawyers of Fatou Jaw Manneh, a US-based Gambian journalist convicted of “publishing with seditious intentions” will appeal against the outrageous sentence handed by a court in Banjul presided over by Buba Jawo.
The Kanifing Magistrate Court on August 18, 2008 found Manneh, former reporter of the (now) pro-government Daily Observer newspaper, guilty on all four counts of “acting with seditious intention", "publication of seditious words" and "publication of false news with intent to cause fear and alarm to the Gambian public". She was fined an amount of 250, 0000 Gambia Dalasis (approximately US$11, 905) or in default serve four years in prison.
Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) sources reported that the Gambian Press Union (GPU) and other Gambians immediately after the sentence paid the fine to avoid Manneh being sent to prison again.
Fatou was arrested and arbitrarily detained for one week upon her arrival in the Gambia in 2007, following an interview she granted in June 2004 to The Independent, a banned Banjul-based newspaper. The interview which was highly critical of President Jammeh was subsequently published on several online Gambian newspapers, including ( http://www.all-gambian.net ).
The case dragged on for months, with several adjournments. Throughout the proceedings, Manneh remained stranded in the Gambia, unable to return to her workplace in the US since her travel documents were confiscated by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).
The MFWA is concerned about the increasing use of high-handed laws to criminalise speech and expression in the Gambia. Over a year ago, Lamin Fatty, a reporter for The Independent was convicted by the same court for “publishing false information”.
We are calling on the government of Yahya Jammeh to respect the universally subscribed rights of all persons to the fundamental freedoms of speech and expression, and to repeal all speech related repressive laws in the country.
The MFWA requests you to protest the deteriorating state of media freedom in the Gambia.
Prof. Kwame Karikari
Executive Director
MFWA
Accra
Tel: 233 21 24 24 70
Fax : 233 21 221084
Website : www.mediafound.org
Email: mfwa@africaonline.com.gh
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF JOURNALISTS
Media Release
19 August 2008
IFJ Condemns Heavy Sentence of Gambian Journalist Critical of the President
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today condemned the sentence against the U.S-based Gambian journalist, Fatou Jaw Manneh, to a heavy fine or four years in jail for different accounts including sedition for writing articles critical of the Gambian President, Yahya Jammeh.
“We condemn this unfair and unfounded sentence,” said Gabriel Baglo, the Director of the IFJ Africa office. “Though the prolonged court process has looked like justice denied, Fatou has endured the trauma of this endless trial and has not given up. This heavy sentence slammed on Fatou, questions the independence of the judiciary in the Gambia. We commend Fatou for her determination and courage throughout the case.”
Ms. Manneh was convicted and sentenced on Monday, August 18, to a fine of 250,000 Dalasi (8,000 Euros) or face a four-year jail sentence with hard labour by a Gambian court on counts of seditious intention, publication of seditious words, publication of false news with intent to cause fear and alarm to the Gambian public.
According to the Gambian Press Union’s (GPU) President, Ndey Tapha Sosseh, the GPU and Manneh’s family raised and paid the amount for the fine and she was not jailed. The journalist travel documents, which were initially confiscated by the authorities, were returned to her.
Resident in the United States since 1994, and a contributor to the website, Allgambian.net, Ms. Manneh was arrested by officers of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) at the international airport in the Gambian capital, Banjul, on 28 March 2007 when she went to pay tribute to her late father. The journalist was detained for a week and denied access to her family and her lawyer. Her case started in March 2007 and lasted for more than a year.
For more information contact the IFJ at + 221 33 842 01 43
The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 122 countries worldwide
Gambia Press Union-U.S. Branch Condemns Conviction of Fatou Jaw Manneh
PRESS RELEASE TUESDAY AUGUST 19TH. 2008 @ 7:37PM
The Gambia Press Union – USA branch condemns in the strongest possible terms the conviction and sentencing of US based - Gambian Journalist Fatou Jaw Manneh by the Gambian authorities. Fatou, current deputy Secretary General of GPU-USA, was arrested at Banjul airport on March 28, 2007 and falsely charged with sedition, publication of false materials by the Jammeh regime. For a period of over one year, she was unjustly paraded from one court to another with each court claiming to have no jurisdiction over the case. Eventually she was brought back to Magistrate Buba Jawo of the Kanifing Magistrates court who had initially dismissed the case base on a supposed lack of jurisdiction. This time around, however, Magistrate Jawo went ahead to try and convict Ms Manneh.
We believe that Magistrate Jawo’s ruling on Fatou’s case was heavily influenced by a regime that holds our country’s justice system hostage and appoints puppet judges to carry out its nefarious mission of subjugation and oppression. We hold Magistrate Jawo guilty of aiding and abetting President Jammeh’s undermining of the independence and impartially of the Gambian judiciary. In the process he has compromised his integrity by yielding to pressure by the Jammeh dictatorship to convict an innocent journalist. His conviction of Ms. Manneh, a strong woman and brave journalist for simply speaking her mind on the state of her beloved nation is simply disgraceful.
Magistrate Jawo’s conviction of Fatou Jaw Manneh is typical of jungle justice meted out to other journalists, to press freedom, and to the rule of in The Gambia since Yahya Jammeh seized power in a military coup in July 1994. In December 2004, veteran journalist Deyda Hydara, an uncompromising critic of the Jammeh dictatorship was brutally gunned down a few yards away from a police station. On April 10 and 11, 2000, at least a dozen school children and one radio journalist were brutally gunned down by soldiers in broad daylight. Scores of Gambian journalists have repeatedly been brutalized by the Jammeh regime for simply carrying out their professional duties as journalists, one of the latest examples being the case of Chief Ebrima Manneh, who disappeared after being arrested by Gambian security forces over two years ago.
GPU USA recognizes that our citizens’ collective freedom of expression and dignity have been suppressed for far too long. Fatou's conviction sets an ugly precedence for all Gambians living abroad, and in essence, officially puts us all in permanent exile. Our freedom to express our opinions in matters relating to our nation is under serious assault. It is therefore urgent for all Gambian journalists and freedom loving citizens to rally behind Fatou and join in a universal condemnation of the brutal regime of Dictator Yahya Jammeh.
We also ask the international community to join us in sending a clear message to the Gambian authorities that no amount of harassment and intimidation can silence our voices of dissent. Fatou's case serves as a clear example that Gambian journalists have never and will never tolerate the systematic oppression habitually meted out to journalists by the Jammeh regime and its puppet judges. We call upon all journalists to rally around Fatou Jaw Manneh and show the Jammeh dictatorship that attacking the freedom of one of us is equivalent to attacking all voices of dissent in our country. We reserve the right to oppose and condemn in the strongest terms possible any violation of our rights by a regime that specializes in breaking the very laws it is sworn to uphold. Our pens are more sharpened today than ever before.
Signed on behalf of the GPU-USA:
Demba Baldeh, Public Relations Officer
Baba Galleh Jallow, Secretary General
CC: Global Media Houses