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Five Gambian Security agents to appear before the ECOWAS Community Court in the “disappeared” journalist’s case

                                                                                                                                                             

Five State Agents of The Gambia are expected to appear on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 before the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Abuja, Nigeria in the ongoing case of a detained Gambian journalist, Chief Ebrima Manneh.

 

This followed an order from the Community Court for the agents to appear before it to answer their alleged roles in the arrest and subsequent detention of Manneh, a former reporter of the pro-government Banjul-based Daily Observer newspaper, who has been “disappeared” since July 2006.

 

The order was contained in an interlocutory ruling on January 31, 2008 and signed jointly by Justice Anthony A. Benin, the Presiding Judge and Tony Anene-Maidoh, the Court Chief Registrar.

 

It said “the Court had realised the need to give opportunity to those persons, who were identified by the witnesses as having played a role in the arrest and/or detention of the applicant”.

 

The court said since the agents who are military and police personnel have been mentioned in the court by witnesses, it would invite them through the Gambian government, which is the defendant in the matter.

 

Three of the security agents are military personnel: Captain Tumbul Kemaba, Personal Protection Officer to President Yahya Jammeh, Lt Omar Colley, Liaison Officer between the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Mile Two Prisons and a member of The Gambian Armed Forces and Corporal Sey, a member of the NIA stationed at a police station in Bakau, a town in the western part of the country. The rests are two senior police officers: Ousman Sonko, Inspector General of Police and Aziz Bojang, Police Public Relations Officer.

 

Police PRO Aziz Bojan in blue, dacing

At the last hearing, the court also said it needed time to translate new evidence it had received from Manneh’s counsel into the French language for the benefit of French speaking judges on the panel.

 

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in June 2007 filed a complaint at the sub-regional court to compel the government of President Jammeh to produce Manneh and to answer for his arrest and subsequent disappearance.

 

Even though Manneh was arrested at the Daily Observer premises in the presence of his colleagues, the government has denied ever arresting Manneh. He has been sighted several times in the custody of state security personnel. The government has consistently refused to appear before the court.

 

Issued by the MFWA, Accra, March 9, 2008

 

The MFWA is a regional independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Accra. It was founded in 1997 to defend and promote the rights and freedom of the media and all forms of expression.

 

Kwame Karikari, Prof.

Executive Director

MFWA

Accra

Tel: 233-21-24 24 70

Fax: 233-21-22 10 84

Email: mfwa@africaonline.com.gh