Thank you Dr. Jaiteh. Baba >From: Malanding Jaiteh <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list ><[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: Now Out: Mandela's Other Children >Date: Fri, 4 May 2007 10:43:25 -0400 > >Congratulations Baba. > >Malanading > > >Baba Galleh Jallow wrote: > >>Dear Friends, >> >>On this occasion of World Press Freedom Day, I am pleased to announce that >>my new small book, "Mandela's Other Children: The Diary of an African >>Journalist" is out. Attached is the cover template for the book. Signed >>copies can be purchased from the FreeGambia website at the following >>address: >> >>http://www.freegambia.net/shop.html >> >>The book may also be purchased directly from the publisher at: >> >>http://www.wastelandpress.net/Mandela.html >> >>I join all journalists in remembering our dear brother, father, uncle, >>mentor, and doyen, Deyda Hydara who was brutally murdered by gunmen on >>December 16, 2004. >> >>Below are three of the book's forty-two chapters. >> >>Baba >> >> >> >>Chapter Nine >> >>It’s been about three months since our absurd arrest over the Norwegian >>paint ad. I spent the past three days locked up incommunicado at NIA >>headquarters. Last Sunday morning, I arrived at our offices around 9:00am >>to oversee work on the Monday paper. As I walked through the gate, I >>noticed two cars packed outside and some men standing around. I recognized >>them immediately as NIA agents. The little guy wearing a black felt hat >>and dark glasses was Baba Saho, the guy who interrogated me and asked me >>to write a statement over the paint ad. I waved at them and proceeded >>upstairs to my office. Shortly after I closed the door behind me, I heard >>a knock and asked them to come in. Five men filed into the office. I >>exchanged greetings with them and asked them to sit down on the three >>available chairs. Three sat down and two leaned against the wall by the >>door, their hands folded on their chests, wearing the customary iron looks >>on their faces. >> >>‘Well Mr. Jallow, we have a warrant for your arrest,’ Baba Saho said, >>looking across the desk at me behind his dark glasses. >> >>‘Oh yeah?’ I said. ‘That’s interesting. And for what crime am I being >>arrested?’ >> >>Saho motioned to one of his men who stepped forward and handed me a yellow >>sheet of paper. As I read, I felt my eyes widening with disbelief. The >>warrant said I was suspected of trafficking in arms, ammunition, and >>drugs, and being in possession of dangerous documents. I could not help >>laughing out. >> >>‘This is ridiculous,’ I said. ‘Suspected of trafficking in arms, >>ammunition, and drugs?’ >> >>‘Have you read the warrant, Mr. Jallow?’ Saho asked. >> >>‘Yes I have,’ I said. >> >>‘Please sign it,’ he added. >> >>I signed the document and handed it back to him. >> >>‘Can we search your office?’ >> >>‘Oh sure,’ I said, rising up from my desk and standing aside. Three of the >>men started rummaging the piles of paper on my desk, pulling out my >>drawers and shifting through their contents. After a while, they were >>through. Of course they did not find any arms, ammunition, or drugs. >> >>‘Can you take us to your house, Mr. Jallow?’ Saho said. >> >>‘No problem,’ I retorted. ‘Let me just tell my colleagues what’s going >>on.’ >> >>As I walked out of my office towards the newsroom, one of the men followed >>me, as if I was going to run away. I told everybody what had happened and >>asked them to make sure that the paper comes out on Monday. Then I locked >>my office and walked downstairs with the men. I was escorted into one of >>the cars, which started driving towards the city. >> >>‘My house is in the other direction,’ I reminded Saho, who sat in the >>front seat with the driver. >> >>‘It’s no longer necessary,’ he said. ‘We just received orders to take you >>straight to headquarters.’ >> >>I sat back in the backseat, sandwiched between two stone-faced agents. I >>had no idea why I was arrested. I knew the contents of the arrest warrant >>were simply ridiculous and not deserving of the slightest concern. And I >>could not think of any story or editorial or advertisement over the past >>week or so that could have led to my arrest. But then in our country, the >>NIA do not need any good reason to arrest somebody and lock them up for as >>long as they are asked to. Orders from above are a good enough reason to >>presume anyone guilty until proven innocent. I resolved to adopt a policy >>of wait and see. We drove in silence into the gloomy NIA headquarters. >> >> >>Chapter Thirteen >> >>Our worst fears are becoming a reality. Jammeh is not stepping down. He is >>going to stay on in power till God knows when. Over the past week, >>busloads of peasants from districts across the country have been going to >>State House to ‘beg’ Captain Jammeh to contest the forthcoming elections. >>Of course, it is all stage-managed. The so-called opinion leaders – >>illiterate village elders, religious leaders, and women - are literally >>rounded up by the regime's hordes of sycophants, given some money as ‘cola >>nut price,’ and brought to Banjul to beg the great leader to stay in power >>for the sake of God and of the country. The little money they receive, the >>prospect of a free bus ride to the capital city, a delicious meal at State >>House, and a rare opportunity to shake the hand of the head of state is >>more than enough bait to get these simple-minded folks to play along with >>an insidious plot by the military to hang on to power. >> >>In front of TV cameras, the so-called opinion leaders, one after the >>other, stand up and praise the sterling qualities of the great leader and >>beg him to contest the elections. He and his great soldiers have >>sacrificed their lives to free The Gambia from the clutches of >>ex-president Dawda Jawara and his gang of corrupt politicians. They must >>not abandon their responsibilities. Some of them likened Jammeh to the >>Prophet Moses, sent by God to deliver his people from the evil pharaoh and >>lead them on to the Promised Land. Every day, another group of so-called >>opinion leaders from a different corner of the country is driven to State >>House to utter their ignorant nonsense. The nonsense is then relayed over >>national radio and television: The people love and trust Jammeh so much >>that they are all begging him to stay in power. The lie gets bigger by the >>day. It is repeated so often that it begins to sound like truth. Rumors >>are circulated by his cronies that the great leader himself really does >>not want to stay in power. But the people are begging him to do so. Since >>the voice of the people is the voice of God, he really has no choice. They >>add their voices to the universal cry for Jammeh to stay. It is clear that >>the plot to hold the Gambian people hostage is going to succeed. This is >>exactly what is going to happen: The busloads of ‘opinion leaders’ will >>continue to come to Banjul to beg Jammeh to stay in power. After ‘opinion >>leaders’ from across the country have been herded like cattle to Banjul to >>beg the great savior to stay in power, Jammeh will then declare that well, >>he has no choice but to abide by the will of the Gambian people; for the >>will of the people is the will of God. That he feels truly humbled by the >>great trust reposed in him by the Gambian people. That in accordance with >>the wishes of the people, he is going to retire from the army and become a >>true servant of the people. This is a well-beaten path for Africa's >>military depots. >> >>Mr. Jammeh and his colleagues in the military think that they are being >>clever by engineering this fake show of universal support. But they are >>not being clever. They are being selfish and greedy. They are being >>disloyal to the nation. They are sealing their betrayal of the trust of >>the enlightened forces in this country. They are exploiting the political >>ignorance and simple-mindedness of the people to legitimize their >>hijacking of our country. And they are being seen in all their ugly >>nakedness. The emperor has absolutely no clothes! These outrages shall not >>go unpublished, now or in the future. They shall not go unexposed to the >>big wide world. And Jammeh and his cohorts shall one day be dragged before >>the uncompromising court of history. And they shall be judged and >>sentenced according to their crimes. ‘Mr. Jammeh, you stand accused of >>forging a counterfeit sovereignty, of using the law to break the law, of >>embezzling millions of dollars of public resources . . .’ >> >> >>Chapter Thirty-One >> >>December 24, 2004. Deyda Hydara, 58, Editor and co-founder of The Point >>newspaper has been brutally murdered. Deyda was gunned down last night, >>around 11:00pm, as he drove home from his office. It was the thirteenth >>anniversary of The Point and Deyda and his colleagues had spent the day >>celebrating. But for Deyda, the meal he had that day was his last. Among >>the guests at his office, chatting and talking, showing teeth hiding >>streams of hot blood, or just waiting nearby outside his office, were some >>men who knew that Deyda would not see the light of the day tomorrow. As he >>drove home, an unmarked taxi cab overtook him, drove adjacent him, and a >>man in the front passenger seat pumped two bullets into an unwary Deyda’s >>head and one into his chest. He lost control of the car, which swerved >>into a ditch. He died on the spot. His passengers, two young ladies, >>members of his staff he had offered a ride home, suffered gunshot wounds >>to the legs. The killers sped past the spot where Deyda slumped over his >>steering wheel, his skull shattered, his chest punctured, drenched in his >>own innocent blood. Deyda, who could not hurt a fly. Deyda, who stammered >>and smoked and was ever so cheerful even when engaged in heated debate >>over matters of principle. Deyda was also the Gambia correspondent for >>Reporters Without Borders and the French news agency AFP. >> >>Who killed Deyda Hydara? Who wanted Deyda death? What could be the motive >>for such cold-blooded murder of a 58-year old journalist who had spent all >>his life trying to make ends meet and who ran a small bi-weekly tabloid >>just mildly critical of the state? Clearly, as long as this regime remains >>in power, we will never get an answer to these questions. Investigations >>will be touted in the media for a while and then all would be silence. >>Deyda’s last shroud would be like the shroud of silence that still covers >>the gruesome murder and incineration of Finance minister Ousman Koro >>Ceesay. Deyda’s last shroud would be like the shroud of silence that >>surrounds the murder by security forces of twelve students and one radio >>journalist on April 10/11 2000. Deyda’s shroud will be like the shroud >>surrounding the killing by security forces of Lt. Almamo Manneh, of an >>unknown number of alleged coup plotters on the bloody night of November >>11, 1994. I am certain that Deyda’s murderer will never be brought to book >>as long as the current regime is in power. >> >>Deyda was an uncompromising champion of press freedom and respect for >>human rights. Over the past year, he had been at the forefront of the >>Gambia Press Union’s fight against the promulgation of the media >>commission that had more powers than the Supreme Court of the land. That >>law was repealed only to be replaced by an even more draconian piece of >>non-legislation that gave the state power to jail journalists for a >>minimum of six months without the option of a fine for publishing >>‘untruths’. This new bill also increases the fee for the registration of a >>newspaper from a whopping hundred thousand dalasi (about $5,000) to an >>unbelievable five hundred thousand dalasi. Again, Deyda was at the >>forefront of the press union’s fight against this draconian bill. Clearly, >>the state had gotten tired of seeing Deyda oppose any piece of unjust >>legislation in this country. And if that indeed is the case, as many of us >>believe it is, then Deyda’s murderer will never be brought to justice as >>long as the current regime is in power, which could be for God knows how >>long. >> >>Deyda’s murder is a very good indicator of where we are as a nation. It is >>a good indicator that yes, we were not mistaken in our accusations of the >>authorities that there is absolutely no security for the powerless in >>today’s Gambia. How could anyone claim the existence of security in a >>country in which journalists could be murdered with impunity, media houses >>set on fire with impunity, and police and soldier-brutality perpetrated >>against innocent civilians with impunity? Deyda's murder is a good >>indicator that in today’s Gambia, the murder of government critics can be >>committed with blatant impunity and no one would ever be arrested for it. >>Why? Because the police are afraid to ask too many questions. Because the >>NIA can look only so far. Because the police, the NIA and everyone else >>find themselves emasculated and reduced to pretending that what they see >>is really not what they see, and what they know is really not what they >>know. They all know, or at least suspect very strongly that they know, who >>killed Deyda Hydara. But they are blind and dumb to the truth because the >>truth is too ugly to contemplate. >> >>Deyda’s murder is an act of terrorism. It is a good indicator that >>terrorism does not have to be male, Arab, skinny, with an eagle nose and >>long flowing beard; that terrorism could also be black, African, Gambian, >>with a head like a square piece of dead wood. Deyda’s murder is calculated >>to terrorize not only the Gambian media, but all Gambians. It is >>calculated to stun and petrify the people, to say to everyone that this is >>what happens to people who engage in activities like those Deyda engaged >>in. It is a calculated attempt to repeat the message that was sent out to >>the Gambian people on April 10 and 11, 2000, when 12 innocent school >>children and one radio journalist were murdered by security forces in >>broad daylight and no one was prosecuted for the murders. The message that >>whoever dares make too much unpleasant noise in The Gambia will go six >>feet deep, and nothing will come out of it. >> >>But Deyda’s murder also represents a victory for the forces of truth and >>justice in The Gambia. Death, Foucault would say, is the ultimate defiance >>to state power; it is the point at which naked power is rendered totally >>impotent. By his death Deyda has dealt a devastating blow to the forces of >>evil in our country. He has exposed the shameful cowardice of those who, >>because they have the guns, feel that they can commit any crime and get >>away with it. He has, by his death, grown larger than life in the global >>imagination and focused the world’s attention on this small corner of the >>world where, for over ten years now, a small group of tyrants have lorded >>it over the people and broken every law in the book with ruthless >>impunity. If Deyda’s murderers were hoping to stop him from exposing their >>evil deeds, the ironic result is that by his death, Deyda has turned the >>full light of international attention on his killers. They have achieved >>the exact opposite of what, in their sick and jaundiced imaginations, they >>had set out to achieve. Not only are the world’s curious searchlights now >>fully focused on The Gambia, they will remain focused on The Gambia until >>the truth about Deyda is known and the culprits brought to justice in one >>way or the other. There is no doubt that one day, someone will stand in >>front of the world and say with total certainty, this is Deyda’s murderer. >>That day will come, and when it comes, those who feel that they can commit >>such despicable crimes with impunity shall be condemned to eternal >>damnation. >> >>_________________________________________________________________ >>Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today it's FREE! >>http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/ >> >>¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ >>To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L >>Web interface >>at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html >> >>To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: >>http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l >>To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: >>[log in to unmask] >>¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ >> > >¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ >To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L >Web interface >at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html > >To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: >http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l >To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: >[log in to unmask] >¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today it's FREE! http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/ ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤