The Independent (Gambia)
Encyclopedia
The Independent was a biweekly newspaper
published in Banjul
, The Gambia
. The paper was started in July 1999 with 25 staffers and freelance reporters, but after multiple raids, acts of arbitrary arrest and detention
, and unsolved acts of arson, The Independent ceased publication in March 2006.
at Gambia's Central Prison. Yallow was arrested and harassed on multiple following occasions, and then in October 2003, the newspaper's offices were set on fire, partially destroying the newsroom.
The paper lost its printing press in an unsolved arson in April 2004, and was later forced to stop publishing after an informal arrangement with the pro-government newspaper The Daily Observer
was terminated without explanation. Its editor Musa Saidykhan was notified by telephone on May 4, 2005 that the arrangement had ended, effective after its May 6th edition. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists
, The Daily Observer Managing Editor Momodou Sanyang "made the decision after learning of problems with his paper's printing facilities, including the need for spare parts and extra capacity."
After two months, The Independent resumed as an underground
publication using a "skeleton staff working in Gambia and a few determined reporters and editors elsewhere," After Saidykhan attended the African Editor’s Forum conference in Johannesburg, South Africa in October 2005, Saidykhan was arrested and detailed by the NIA. According to Saidykhan, "the government was angered about a petition I had submitted to the former South African President Thabo Mbeki
, inviting him to pressure a reluctant Gambian government expedite investigations into the gruesome murder of a leading local newspaper journalist, Deyda Hydara
." Saidykhan has alleged he was tortured by the NIA in 2006. After plainclothes police officers stormed the newspaper's offices in March 2006 and arrested the newspaper's local staff, the newspaper ceased publication.
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
published in Banjul
Banjul
-Transport:Ferries sail from Banjul to Barra. The city is served by the Banjul International Airport. Banjul is on the Trans–West African Coastal Highway connecting it to Dakar and Bissau, and will eventually provide a paved highway link to 11 other nations of ECOWAS.Banjul International Airport...
, The Gambia
The Gambia
The Republic of The Gambia, commonly referred to as The Gambia, or Gambia , is a country in West Africa. Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, surrounded by Senegal except for a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean in the west....
. The paper was started in July 1999 with 25 staffers and freelance reporters, but after multiple raids, acts of arbitrary arrest and detention
Arbitrary arrest and detention
Arbitrary arrest and arbitrary detention are the arrest or detention of an individual in a case in which there is no likelihood or evidence that they committed a crime against legal statute, or in which there has been no proper due process of law...
, and unsolved acts of arson, The Independent ceased publication in March 2006.
History of government harassment
Less than a month after the newspaper was founded, Gambia's National Intelligence Agency (NIA) raided its offices, arresting and detaining multiple journalists; the paper wasn't published for two weeks. In July 2000, Alagi Yorro Jallow, the managing editor and co-founder of the newspaper, was arrested and detained by the NIA after The Independent published an article about a hunger strikeHunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
at Gambia's Central Prison. Yallow was arrested and harassed on multiple following occasions, and then in October 2003, the newspaper's offices were set on fire, partially destroying the newsroom.
The paper lost its printing press in an unsolved arson in April 2004, and was later forced to stop publishing after an informal arrangement with the pro-government newspaper The Daily Observer
The Daily Observer
The Daily Observer is a newspaper published in Bakau in Banjul, The Gambia.The paper, Gambia's first daily newspaper, was founded by Kenneth Best in 1990. Best had previously managed another paper called the Daily Observer in Liberia, until the First Liberian Civil War caused him to relocate with...
was terminated without explanation. Its editor Musa Saidykhan was notified by telephone on May 4, 2005 that the arrangement had ended, effective after its May 6th edition. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists
Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent nonprofit organisation based in New York City that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.-History:A group of U.S...
, The Daily Observer Managing Editor Momodou Sanyang "made the decision after learning of problems with his paper's printing facilities, including the need for spare parts and extra capacity."
After two months, The Independent resumed as an underground
Underground press
The underground press were the independently published and distributed underground papers associated with the counterculture of the late 1960s and early 1970s in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and other western nations....
publication using a "skeleton staff working in Gambia and a few determined reporters and editors elsewhere," After Saidykhan attended the African Editor’s Forum conference in Johannesburg, South Africa in October 2005, Saidykhan was arrested and detailed by the NIA. According to Saidykhan, "the government was angered about a petition I had submitted to the former South African President Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki is a South African politician who served two terms as the second post-apartheid President of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008. He is also the brother of Moeletsi Mbeki...
, inviting him to pressure a reluctant Gambian government expedite investigations into the gruesome murder of a leading local newspaper journalist, Deyda Hydara
Deyda Hydara
Deyda Hydara was a co-founder and primary editor of The Point, a major independent Gambian newspaper. He was also a correspondent for both AFP News Agency and Reporters Without Borders for more than 30 years...
." Saidykhan has alleged he was tortured by the NIA in 2006. After plainclothes police officers stormed the newspaper's offices in March 2006 and arrested the newspaper's local staff, the newspaper ceased publication.