The Gambia: Authorities must stop judicial harassment of PEN member Musa S. Sherrif and editor Momodou Justice Darboe
“PEN International strongly condemns the ongoing judicial intimidation adopted by President Adama Barrow against PEN member Musa S. Sherrif and his colleague, Momodou Justice Darboe, in retaliation for their journalistic work. PEN is concerned that this unbelievably harsh response to a typical news story signals dangerous cravings by The Gambian authorities for a return to the country’s repressive past under the Yahya Jammeh dictatorship when independent media and journalism were mortal undertakings. Authorities must immediately and unconditionally drop all charges and stop all attacks on press freedom in The Gambia”, said Burhan Sönmez, President of PEN International.
5 November 2024: PEN International calls on The Gambian authorities to immediately and unconditionally stop the retaliatory prosecution of journalist and PEN Gambia president Musa S. Sherrif and his colleague, Momodu Justice Darboe, for their journalistic work. This comes in relation to a news story they published on 23 September 2023 in The Voice newspaper quoting officials of the ruling party and other sources who reportedly said that the country’s President Adama Barrow had chosen a successor and that he would not be contesting in the next general elections in 2026. PEN International calls on authorities to unconditionally drop all charges against Musa, Momodou and their newspaper, and to fulfil The Gambia’s regional and international obligations to protect freedom of expression.
After The Voice newspaper published the news article on 25 September 2024, President Adama Barrow’s lawyers wrote to the newspaper, labelling the article as defamatory and threatened to lodge a lawsuit unless the newspaper retracted the story and apologised to the president within twenty-four hours. Before the newspaper could respond, on 26 September, Musa and Momodou were summoned to the police headquarters in Banjul, questioned, and detained. Musa was detained for about seven hours and released late at night on police bond to return to the police station the following day. Momodou was detained for two days and released on 28 October.
When Musa returned to the police station on 27 November, he was arrested and briefly detained again. Both journalists were charged with the offence of ‘false publication and broadcasting’ under The Gambia’s Section 181A of the criminal code, and ‘sharing misleading information that could incite public alarm’ and released on police bond. Musa and Momodou could face a minimum of one-year imprisonment and a fine of up to D 250,000 (over USD 3,644) if convicted for publishing what The Gambian authorities consider ‘false news’.
On 8 October 2024, Musa and Momodou were charged at the Kanifing Magistrates’ Court in Kanifing. They pleaded not guilty to the charges and the court ordered their release on cash bail amounting to GMD 100,000 (over USD 1400) with two sureties each. A hearing of the case was set for 31 October 2024. As they prepared their defence, President Adama Barrow filed a civil suit in the High Court of The Gambia claiming damages against Musa S. Sherrif and The Voice Media Company Limited, the proprietors of The Voice newspaper. On 25 October, Musa appeared in court as ordered for the civil case and is scheduled to appear again on 22 November for the hearing. The next hearing of the criminal case is set for 10 December.
PEN International notes that both the civil charges slapped on Musa S. Sherrif and The Voice newspaper, and the criminal charges he faces together with Momodou Justice Darboe came as retaliation for their journalistic work, and they amount to judicial harassment to muzzle free speech and press freedoms by The Gambian authorities.
The Gambia, through accession and ratification, is a party to regional and international human rights declarations and treaties, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR); the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR); and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Preservation of laws that unjustifiably curtail and criminalise legitimate free speech negates The Gambia’s regional and international human rights obligations, a discrepancy that needs urgent correction.
Recalling the horrific persecution of independent journalists and other critical voices under the Yahya Jammeh dictatorship, PEN International calls on President Adama Barrow to stand by his democratic governance and human rights promises that he has repeatedly made to the Gambian people, and unconditionally withdraw the civil suit he has filed against Musa and The Voice newspaper and refrain from harassing independent journalists. Similarly, the organisation urges the authorities to drop the unjustified criminal charges against Musa and Momodou urgently and unconditionally.
PEN International urges The Gambian authorities to repeal all provisions in the country’s legislation and laws that restrict freedom of expression, including but not limited to the Newspaper Act of 1944. The organisation encourages the authorities to expedite implementation of the 2018 landmark recommendation of the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States to amend or repeal The Gambian law on False Publication and Broadcasting Law.
Further, PEN urges The Gambian authorities to align the country’s laws and administration of justice practices with The Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information adopted in Banjul in 2019 during the 65th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights. Among the measures the Declaration calls on the states to undertake is the abolition of laws that criminalise offences like sedition, insult and publication of false news and amend criminal laws on defamation and libel in favour of civil sanctions, which must themselves be necessary and proportionate.
Finally, The Gambian authorities must urgently revoke any trajectory that risks taking the country back to the horrors of its repressive past, and urgently undertake systematic measures to promote a civic environment where free speech and media freedom are respected, promoted and protected as cornerstones of a free, peaceful and democratic society.
For further information, please contact Nduko o’Matigere, Head of Africa at PEN International, 167-169, Great Portland Street, London, W1W 5PF, UK – email [email protected]