Score Change: The score improved from 3 to 4 because there were no reported instances of individuals facing imprisonment or long pretrial detention for their online activities, though arrests continue.
Under the previous administration, arrests and prosecutions of journalists and others for their online activities were common, with users frequently prosecuted on “false information” charges under the ICA. Despite improvements under the Barrow administration, dubious prosecutions over online activity have continued.
In late January 2020, the government shut down two private radio stations, Home Digital FM and King FM, along with their online services (see B2); two journalists and two technicians, both of them working at King FM, were arrested. Both radio stations covered the protests demanding President Barrow’s resignation. Pa Modou Bojang, of Home Digital FM, was detained for three days and was charged with incitement before he was released on bail. Gibbi Jallow, a reporter and general manager at King FM, was detained for the same period, and was charged with inciting violence.
The technicians were released without charge. Following the intervention of the NHRC, the charges against the journalists were dropped in February.
In June 2020, after the coverage period, prominent human rights activist Madi Jobarteh was briefly detained by local police at a Black Lives Matter protest and was charged with false information and broadcast. The charges were based on an interview with Jobarteh broadcast by local media, including online, where he criticized the government’s response to the police killings of Ousman Darboe in United States and Kebba Secka and Haruna Jatta in the Gambia.
The charges against Jobarteh were dropped in July.
In February 2018, Ismaila Ceesay, a political analyst and political-science lecturer who emerged as a prominent critic of the Barrow administration, was arrested and charged over comments he made to a local newspaper, which were published both online and in print, though charges were later dropped after activists demanded his release.
In September 2018, former parliamentarian Abdoulie Saine was arrested and charged with incitement of violence and seditious intent after a WhatsApp audio clip, in which Saine was heard castigating the Mandinka ethnic group, went viral.
The legitimacy of the charges is debated;
as of June 2020, the case remains ongoing.
Source link : https://freedomhouse.org/country/gambia/freedom-net/2020
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Publish date : 2020-10-14 03:58:59
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