(JollofNews) – The Gambia Press Union (GPU) has welcomed the government’s decision to comply with the ECOWAS Community Court ruling on the cases ofjournalists Musa Saidykhan, Deyda Hydara murdered in 2004 and Chief Ebrima Manneh who went missing since 2006.
“The pronouncement by the Information Minister and the Special Adviser of the Attorney General that the government will implement ECOWAS court judgement is a victory for rule of law and democracy,” GPU
President Emile Touray told JollofNews.
Last week, Information Minister Demba Ali Jawo used the platform of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists (IDEI) to announce govt readiness to endorse three major sentences
handed down by the regional bloc community court against Gambia. After losing its case, the Jammeh regime went ahead and turn a deaf ear to successive decisions made by the said court. ruling.
The Justice Minister Special Adviser Ousainou Thomasi also echoed similar
sentiment when he addressed an audience of journalists during the same event, expressing govt resolve to turn the page on this issue.
Touray said Justice Minister Tambadou is supposed to start negotiations with the famillies of the victims to chart the way
forward.
The said cases are linked to the ‘disappearance’ of Chief Ebrima Manneh, the murder of Deyda Hydara and the torture of Musa Saidykhan, a former editor of the banned Independent newspaper.
Over these past two decades, the tiny West African nation was nicknamed as the ‘slaughterhouse for journalists’ as the Jammeh regime imposed a reign of terror that has left many journalists killed,
‘disappeared’ or subjected to degradating treatment such as torture.
President Adama Barrow has committed himself to creating a conducive environment for journalists, putting an end to Yahya Jammeh’s ‘rule of fear.’
For those in denial about the atrocities committed by the Jammeh regime, this is a perfect example of the horrendous conditions that Journalist have to operate under. This is why we Gambians should be measured in our criticisms against this Government. By all means lets criticise them when they get things wrong but comparing this Government to APRC Government is an insult to all Gambians. The two are like chalk and cheese. It seems to me that most Gambians are now over compensating for their silence during Jammeh’s time and are therefore blowing a lot of things out of proportion now. We seem to expect this Government to get everything perfect and we are very quick to say it is our rights to hold the Government accountable but we hardly ever mention what our responsibilities are as citizens. Our attitudes towards this Government is like a jilted lover who has become obsessively jealous with their new partner.