Two journalists of The Voice Newspaper were detained for several hours over a September 23, 2024 story which claims President Adama Barrow has chosen a successor as part of an exit plan.
Musa Sheriff Hydara, the editor-in-chief of the Newspaper alongside his deputy, Momodou Justice Darboe were called for questioning on 26 September and then later detained on separate days, at the police headquarters in Banjul. Both men were detained for “False Publication and Broadcasting” against President Adama Barrow.
The story, which was published on 23 September, contains claims that President Barrow has chosen a successor.
Hydara and Darboe were summoned on 26 September for interrogation at the police headquarters separately, for over two hours, after they received a letter from the president’s lawyer, Ida Drameh, threatening a defamation lawsuit over the story. The story stated that the president, Adama Barrow, plans on stepping down ahead of the 2026 election and has already chosen his successor as part of his exit plan.
Musa Sheriff Hydara, on the evening of 26 September, was released on bail. He was then asked to return on 27 September with the newspaper’s registration documents by the police. The author of the story, Momodou Justice Darboe, was charged with “False Publication and Broadcasting” and was detained overnight. Darboe was released the next day and instructed to report to the police on September 30, however Hydara was detained once more and charged with “False Publication and Broadcasting” on the same day.
Meanwhile, the Gambia country partner of the Media Foundation for West Africa, the Gambia Press Union (GPU), has rejected the defamation accusations against the newspaper. In a statement issued in solidarity with the journalists, the GPU insisting that the publication in question “upholds the principles of balance and fairness in news reporting as provided for in the Cherno Jollow Charter of Ethics for Journalists (the code of conduct for Gambian journalists) and had provided space to two senior officials of the President’s party, the National People’s Party, to reply to the claims.”
The paper also carried a story on September 24 in which the ruling party’s administrative secretary denied claims that President Barrow has settled on a business tycoon as his successor. That counter publication was in line with the Gambian journalists’ code of ethics.
The GPU also deplored the use of The “False Publication and Broadcasting” law, to repress press freedom, despite a 2018 recommendation for its repeal by the ECOWAS Court of Justice and a similar call for its review by The Gambia’s Truth Commission in 2021.
Journalists face up to a minimum one-year imprisonment and a fine of up to D250, 000 (over $3,644) for publications deemed by the authorities to be “false news.”
The MFWA strongly condemns the judicial intimidation of the two journalists and call on the authorities to drop all charges against them.
We also urge The Gambia to take steps to decriminalise libel and defamation in line with the African Human Rights Court ruling in the Lohe Issah Konate ruling.
