DEYDA’S MURDER SUSPECT ARRESTED: CAN THE WORLD BE FOOLED BY PROPAGANDA.



BINNEH S MINTEH

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY





Analysis from the institute for propaganda reveals “ We are fooled by propaganda chiefly because we don’t recognize it when we see it. It may be fun to be fooled but, as the cigarette ads used to say, it is more fun to know.” We can be more familiar with propaganda when we see it if we are familiar with the seven common propaganda devices.

A study of detecting propaganda shows this as  “The name calling device method” of detecting propaganda. In this method, one is made to form a judgment without examining the evidence upon which it should be based. We can clearly see the Jammeh government appealing to the hate and fear of the whole world, by giving a bad name to Mahmoud Hakim, proprietor of Sun City Bar and Restaurant located at the Senegambia Junction. In propaganda, this is what is called “ Use of bad names without presentation of their essential meaning, without all their pertinent implications, comprises perhaps the most common of all propaganda devices.” Those who want to maintain the status quo apply bad names to those they see as posing treats or could change their system.



A quick analysis of the conflict between the media and Jammeh’s government from 1994 to date can make one to satisfactorily establish a prime suspect for all crimes committed against the media including the murder of Deyda Hydara. After digging through the Gambian archives from 1994 to date, this is what our cubicle found:

February 26 All independent newspapers, LEGAL ACTION, CENSORED The Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) introduced Decree 71, which required all independent newspapers to pay a registration bond of 100,000 dalasis (US$10,000) and provide property as collateral, or face closure. Decree 71 extended Decree 70 (passed by the AFPRC on Feb. 14), which required only new independent newspapers to pay 100,000 dalasis to register. State-owned publications are not subject to either decree. All seven Gambian independent newspapers managed to meet the requirements of Decree 71 but were prohibited from publishing for the two weeks during which their affidavits were being reviewed. CPJ protested the imposition of the decrees to the Gambian government and urged that they be revoked.

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March 8 Ebrima Ceesay, The Daily Observer, LEGAL ACTION Theophilus George, The Daily Observer, LEGAL ACTION Deyda Hydara, The Point, LEGAL ACTION Pap Seine, The Point, LEGAL ACTION Sam Sarr, Foroyaa, LEGAL ACTION Halifah Sallah, Foroyaa, LEGAL ACTION Sidia Jatta, Foroyaa, LEGAL ACTION Boubacarr Gaye, New Citizen, LEGAL ACTION The editors and publishers of four independent newspapers were summoned to appear before the Banjul Magistrate Court to answer charges of violating Section 5 of the 1944 Newspaper Act by failing to submit their papers' annual registration documents. Into the first years of Yahya Jammeh's rule, no newspaper was charged for violating this provision in the act. Newspapers have been allowed to simply provide publishing information on their back pages. Now, Jammeh's armed forces provisional ruling council has made failure! to register a criminal offense, and is prosecuting those who do not comply. Those summoned on March 8 were: Ebrima Ceesay, editor of the Daily
 Observer, and Theophilus George, the paper's publisher; Sam Sarr, Halifa Sallah and Sidia Jatta, editors of Foroyaa; Boubacarr Gaye, editor and publisher of the New Citizen; and Deyda Hydara and Pap Saine, editors of The Point. The eight publishers and editors pleaded not guilty and were released on bond of 1,000 dalasis (US$100) each. The case is pending.



Our cubicle strongly salute recommendations of the RSF, that:

“The shadow of a horrible killing hangs over the Gambian national holiday this year," RSF said. "We do not understand why, despite promises made by the authorities immediately after Hydara's death, Gambian investigators have not considered all the possible motives." The shadow of a horrible killing hangs over the Gambian national holiday this year," RSF said. "We do not understand why, despite promises made by the authorities immediately after Hydara's death, Gambian investigators have not considered all the possible motives.

"Most of Hydara's friends think it was politically motivated. The circumstances and preceding events point to this. Yet the police have never given [a political motive] serious consideration. On the contrary, the authorities appear to have excluded it," the organisation added.

"When we call on the Gambian government to do everything possible to solve Hydara's murder, we believe this includes establishing the identity of the 'Green Boys.' To be considered serious and credible, the investigation must shed light on this shadowy group of activists who, for the police, should be the leading suspects in our correspondent's murder."

The "Green Boys" directly threatened Gambian journalists at least three times in 2004, sending them violent and explicit messages with impunity.

Initially called the "22 July Movement" after the coup that brought Colonel Yahya Jammeh to power on 22 July 1994, the group was founded by young activists who came from the ruling party, the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC).

Officially disbanded in 1999, they were reborn under the name the "Green Boys," after the APRC's identifying colour. Local sources say members were sent to Libya in the mid-1990s to be instructed in the use of firearms and receive religious training. Back in The Gambia, they served as a support group for the ruling party.

On 13 January 2004, Alagi Yorro Jallow, managing editor for "The Independent" newspaper, received a letter signed by the "Green Boys" giving him a "final warning" after his coverage of the trial of Baba Jobe, the president's former right-hand man and majority leader in Parliament. The message said [with original grammar and punctuation]: "Stop it now or else you will never see a newspaper again. We have also warn you (. . . ) to be very careful of us stop telling lies and writing about Baba Jobe or you will regret it."

On the night of 12 April, six masked gunmen set fire to "The Independent"'s printing press. During a National Assembly session on 23 July, opposition National Reconciliation Party (NRP) leader Hamat Bah claimed that two members of the National Guard, Cpl. Sanna Manjang and Sherif Guisseh, had participated in the arson attack. Bah further alleged that Cpl. Manjang had sustained burns in the course of the operation, and that he afterwards he had received treatment for his injuries at the home of the Presidential Guard' commander, Maj. Bajinka. The police never investigated these allegations.

On 7 July, Demba Jawo, the president of the Gambia Press Union (GPU), received a threatening fax (of which RSF has a copy) with no originating number or signature. Claiming to act "in defence of the revolution," the anonymous sender accused Jawo of being an "agent of the West" who was "always happy to go hard on our good president" by means of "ranting and lies."

The fax continued, "Very soon we will teach one of your journalists a very good lesson so that all of you will learn one or two things from him." It concluded, "We are therefore warning you in advance to calm down or we will tame you. Am sure you don't want your bones and flesh to be thrown to dogs and vultures." There was never any serious police investigation into this threat.

On 29 July, the BBC's head office in London received an e-mail message signed by the "Green Boys" criticising the "negative" reporting of its Gambia correspondent, Ebrahima Sillah. "We will not sit idly by to see that our president is criticised unnecessarily," the message said. Referring to Sillah, it said the journalist had been "warned several times through telephones threats to him, but stubborn as he is, he is not listening.

This is the final warning to him." In the early hours of 15 August, Sillah's home was set on fire. This arson attack remains unpunished.



Aged 58, married and the father of four children, Hydara was shot dead at the wheel of his car on the evening of 16 December as he was driving two of his employees home. He had been a RSF correspondent since 1994 and was one of The Gambia's most respected journalists. Co-founder and co-editor of the tri-weekly newspaper "The Point", he was also an Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondent.

Hydara was one of the most outspoken critics of two new laws drastically curtailing press freedom that were approved by the National Assembly two days before his murder. According to several local sources, he had received anonymous threats in the days prior to his death. The police investigation has so far yielded no results”.



The above analysis by the RSF is the truth and nothing but the truth. Even with the use ot “The name calling  device method “ of propaganda will never win the hearts and minds of people to belief that  Mahmoud Hakim was infact Deyda’s murderer. Gambians and the civilize world will continue to point fingers at the “Green Boys”. They have been threatening the media and promise to teach one of them a lesson for the others to learn. It is the green boys and no one else.

FREEDOM, LIBERTY, JUSTICE AND THE RULE OF LAW IS ALL WHAT OUR CUBICLE STANDS FOR. THE JAMMEH REGIME MUST GO BY AND ALL MEANS.








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