"Reviewing the situation, the union is satisfied that the paper has committed
 no crime and that the matter could have been handled differently without
 resorting to high-handedness.

 The invasion of the  Independent office and the mass arrest, detention
 incommunicado  of its staff, coming close on the heels of the official order
 of July 23 to the paper to cease publication, point once again to
 government's relentless campaign to silence the free press whose only crime
 is that they dare to differ.

 Therefore, in the interest of our fledgling democracy, a free press is an
 indispensable guard against the prospect of this country being classed among
 the fascist states of the new millennium."
***********************************************Reply separator

Indeed, as Malanding  said,  actions do speak louder  than words. This is
part of the continuing and intensifying high-handed  tactics used by the
present government  to silence any  dissenting voice, and  secure a life-time
rule. Their aim is to silence any voice that dares  to be critical of this
"pirate operation" masquerading as a  legitimate  government. The fact that
people  who operate in this fashion actually  expect to be taken seriously by
the rest of the World, as well as those they are supposedly representing is
beyond belief. The proprietor  of Citizen's FM, my former  school mate Mr
Baboucarr Gaye, was  harassed  and silenced using the very same tactics, and
since they  seem to have gotten away with that, why not again? To the
proprietors and  staff  of the independent, l say please continue  to be a
voice for  the people in a country where those  who are supposed to protect
our  interests and our  rights, have  nothing but a clear agenda to
subjugate, silence and instill fear in us  so that they can stay in  power
for as long as they live. How sad that in  most of Africa, if not all, those
who seek  political power  do not seem to have a grasp of  a very basic
process, namely that being  elected to office does not mena  that you have to
stay there forever. So, instead of focussing  on the tasks at hand, alas,
they polish their skills and tactics  on how to stay in office  forever.That
statement  by the July 22nd movement  was but a sign of this  kind of
thinking. As l mentioned before,  the message clearly  was  "one  party, one
president  for life, and only those newspapers  that print what is favourable
to  the present government." It is a very sad day for our country.We are in
the grips of tyranny, and  whoever does not  want to believe  this is fooling
themselves.

Jabou Joh

In a message dated 8/3/99 7:51:35 PM Central Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< Folks, this is from The Daily Observer Aug 3, 99. The old adage goes
"Action
 speaks louder than words"!

 Malanding Jaiteh

 Independent editors released


  The editors of the Independent newspaper, Baba Galleh Jallow and Alhaji
 Yoro Jallow, who were arrested Sunday night by officers of the National
 Intelligence Agency were released last night.

 NB Daffeh, reporter, who was arrested Friday morning was also released.

 Speaking to the Daily Observer shortly after their release, Baba Galleh
 Jallow, editor-in-chief, said, "we were told this afternoon that we were
 arrested because we did not have the authorisation and the requisite
 documents to operate a newspaper. From our understanding, the NIA was given
 the impression that we did not have the authorisation to publish and that we
 did not have the affidavit and other documentation to publish a newspaper.
 We've been asked to report to the NIA at 9am tomorrow and take along copies
 of these documents which we will do."

 Narrating his experiences at the NIA, NB Daffeh said, "the only unfortunate
 thing is that I was treated like a criminal. I was dumped in a cell together
 with some criminals and I slept on the bare floor."

 In reaction to the incident, the Gambia Press Union, yesterday issued a
 press statement condemning the arrests. We reproduce the full text of the
 statement:

 The harassment of the staff of the Independent newspaper has taken a turn
 for the worst with the arrest of the paper's editor-in-chief and managing
 editor, Baba Galleh Jallow and Yorro Jallow respectively on Sunday.

 On Friday the entire support staff and a staff reporter, NB Daffeh were
 picked up from the  Independent office.  They were whisked to NIA
 headquarters where they were cautioned not to work for the paper and
 released, except for NB Daffeh.  He is still in detention.

 This development is a cause of great concern and alarm to the Gambia Press
 Union, which further believes that the crisis is being blown out of
 proportion.

 Reviewing the situation, the union is satisfied that the paper has committed
 no crime and that the matter could have been handled differently without
 resorting to high-handedness.

 The invasion of the  Independent office and the mass arrest, detention
 incommunicado  of its staff, coming close on the heels of the official order
 of July 23 to the paper to cease publication, point once again to
 government's relentless campaign to silence the free press whose only crime
 is that they dare to differ.

 Therefore, in the interest of our fledgling democracy, a free press is an
 indispensable guard against the prospect of this country being classed among
 the fascist states of the new millennium.

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