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3 GPU Executive Members, Pap Saine Arrested

By Ebrima G. Sankareh, Editor-In-Chief

According to our unimpeachable State House source Kissy Kissy Mansa, three Executive officers of The Gambia Press Union (GPU) together with Pap Saine, the legally embattled Managing Editor of the independent daily, The Point Newspaper were arrested this morning following a terse reaction by the GPU to President Jammeh’s rude and bellicose remarks about the macabre murder of veteran journalist, Deyda Hydara in December, 2004. Saine was picked up because The Point carried the rejoinder says Kissy.

Says Kissy Kissy Mansa, GPU’s Secretary General, Emil Touray, First Vice President- Mrs. Sarata Jabbi, and Treasurer- Mr. Pa Modou Faal, along with Mr. Pap Saine, Managing Editor of The Point newspaper are currently at the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) headquarters under-going interrogation.
 
No sooner had The Point newspaper published the GPU’s reaction, captioned “GPU Reacts to Jammeh’s Statement on Deyda Hydara, Press Freedom” than State House instructed the most feared NIA to arrest all relevant officials of the GPU as well as Mr. Saine, reveals Kissy Kissy Mansa quoting highly placed sources within the President’s office. Soon after the instruction, NIA personnel ran to the GPU’s Bakau headquartered offices at No: 5 Garba Jahumpa Road, 14 Kilometers off the Capital, Banjul. Eyewitnesses who begged strict confidentiality say while at the premises, they first asked for the Press Union's president- Ms. Ndey Tapha Sosseh but were told that she was out of town. Then they asked for the First Vice President and Secretary General both of whom were also out of the office.
 
They then reportedly managed to get them on their mobile phones and instructed them to immediately report to the NIA’s most dreaded Marena Parade headquarters in Banjul, 500meters from the President’s office. They have since been arrested and under-going interrogations that are all too often, grueling.

About 30 Minutes after Mr. Touray and Mrs. Jabbi reported to the NIA headquarters, Mr. Pap Saine who carried the GPU’s reaction in his paper was also called as he stepped out the Banjul Magistrates’ Court, minutes after being freed by the Court on charges of “claiming Gambian citizenship by false pretense.”  Mr. Pa Modou Faal- GPU Treasurer was the second to be picked up and by 12:00 noon local Gambian time, says Kissy, all four have been rounded up.

In a related development, Mr. Abdul Hamid Adiamoh, Managing Editor and Publisher of the Today Newspaper who was arrested on 10 June 2009 appeared before the Kanifing Magistrates' Court this morning charged with "publishing and broadcasting false information" contrary to section 181 of the Criminal Code, Cap 10, Volume 111, as Amended in the Criminal Code No: 18 of 2004”. This is in connection with an article he published on June 10 alleging that Ministers for Local Government and Lands and Attorney General & Justice, Mr. Ismaila Sambou and Mrs. Marry Saine- Firdaus- were respectively sacked from their Cabinet positions. Mr. Adiamoh was escorted to Kanifing and Banjul Magistrates’ Court but the matter could not proceed because the judges were busy with the newly appointed Chief Justice says Kissy Kissy Mansa.
 
On Monday’s sitting presided over by Mrs. Sainabou Wadda-Ceesay, after hearing the charges, Mr. Adiamoh pleaded guilty to the charges.
 
Police Prosecutor, Mr. Amadou Keita told the Court that when the paper was circulated, the police launched an investigation and found the publication to be false, as both Secretaries of state were not sacked. He said after establishing the facts, the accused who is the editor of the paper made himself available to police operations. He was questioned and he admitted publishing the said story in the Today newspaper. He however told the team of investigators that the said publication was stopped from further circulation. The accused wrote an apology letter to the two ministers and on 11 June, the same paper published the apology letters.
 
The accused was then cautioned, charged and brought to court. Cadet Keita, in this instance presented the copies of the publication containing the article Mr. Adiamoh is charged with and the follow-up edition containing the apology letters to the President, the two state Ministers each and the public, as well as copies of the letters to the two Ministers, as Exhibits A to G.   
 
In his submission, the defense lawyer Mr. Lamin told the Court “the accused has not wasted the Court’s precious time, and have chosen to admit wrongdoing and has demonstrated his will to cooperate with the authorities.” “After he discovered the publication to be false, the accused person made desperate attempts to retrieve all copies of the publication and recovered 90 percent of the circulated papers. He had also tendered apologies. After discovering his mistakes, he personally called the police to inform them of the said publication. Corrigendum was issued on the 11 June 2009.All these efforts amounts to responsible journalism, and he could not have done better. He is a young man with family and convicting him will have a great harm to his family and business,” the defense counsel argued asking the Court “to temper justice with mercy”.
 
In his testimony, Mr. Adiamoh told the Court, "We didn't desire to publish false information. Since 2007 we have published over 200 issues and with the exception of the one I was charged with, we have never published any wrong information. While I am not trying to excuse myself from my mistakes and I acknowledge that mistakes do happen in any profession”, he said. Mr. Adiamoh also reiterates his efforts to limit the circulation of the paper.
Magistrate Wadda adjourned the case to tomorrow 16 June for judgement.
Adiamoh was also granted bail in the sum of D10, 000

News Just In:

Mr. Sam Sarr, Co-Editor of the Foroyaa newspaper and Ebrima Sawaneh, Deputy Managing Editor of The Point newspaper have also been arrested this evening and are now with the four others arrested in the morning, all in connection with the terse rejoinder by The Gambia Press Union following President Yaya Jammeh’s painful taunting of slain Gambian journalist, Deyda Hydara.