By: Alieu Jallow
In a passionate plea, Salieu Taal, former President of the Gambia Bar Association, has called on President Adama Barrow to drop all charges against journalists Musa Sheriff and Muhammed Justice Darboe and to discontinue ongoing legal cases that have drawn condemnation from some human rights advocates and media organizations.
“I am calling on the government of the Gambia to drop all charges in the criminal court against the two Gambian journalists. Yesterday, we celebrated International Access to Information Day, and the whole of Africa descended on Gambia to discuss the African Charter. But in today’s Gambia, two journalists have been charged in criminal court and also summoned in the criminal court for simply saying or writing a story that alleges that the incumbent has accumulated a successor,” he pleaded during a stakeholder engagement with media and CSOs organised by WADEMOS.
As Gambia stands at a pivotal moment in its democratic journey, the former Bar Association leader emphasized that it’s unfortunate that citizens, particularly journalists who are privy to information, can be detained, charged, and taken to court. He reiterated his plea to the President to be magnanimous and discontinue his civil suit.
Counsel Taal called on journalists and rights activists to make this issue their concern, citing that freedom of expression is the cornerstone of all rights.
“I am calling on all journalists and rights activists to make this matter their business. We cannot sit in our nice, cozy environments talking about the African Charter, access to information, and the constitution when, as we speak, our colleagues have to worry about paying legal fees for multi-million dalasi lawsuits and risk going to jail for an obnoxious colonial act that criminalizes the publication of a story that may not be true,” he said.
Amid a climate of growing concern over press freedom, a number of journalists in Gambia have faced legal repercussions for their work, raising alarms among the Gambian media fraternity, particularly regarding Musa Sheriff, the Managing Director of the Voice Newspaper, and his colleague Muhammed J. Darboe, as well as Kebba Ansu Manneh of the Alkamba Times, who are facing lawsuits against the Minister of Environment, Climate Change, and Natural Resources.
Taal believes the President can act within his powers to discontinue these civil suits and urges the head of state to leverage his authority to fulfill his government’s initial commitment to guaranteeing freedom of expression.
“So I am once more calling on the President to use his powers and authority to drop the charges and to get the Inspector General of Police to discontinue the lawsuit,” he appealed.
