Written by MHM Admin

Media freedom and human rights pressure groups are calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Augustine Kanjia who was arrested taking photographs outside a court hearing in Gambia yesterday. The Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) and the International Federation of Journailsts (IFJ) also want sedition charges against seven journalists who were arrested on Monday 15 June and freed on bail yesterday, to be dropped.

Kanjia, who is from Sierra Leone, was working for The Point newspaper when he was arrested covering the court appearance of the seven, who include three executive members of the Gambia Press Union (GPU).

According to the GPU, Kanjia was taking pictures of riot police who were trying to contain a large crowded which had gathered outside the magistrates court in Serekunda close to the capital Banjul.

Gabriel Baglo, Director of the IFJ Africa office said there has been rampant violence against journalists in Gambia in the past two weeks.

“There appears to be a systematic repression by the authorities to ensure that the private media in the Gambia is completely paralyzed,” he said.

Augustine Kanjia who is in his early 40s, fled the war in Sierra Leone. He is an investigative reporter and writes three columns for the Point. He also reports for Vatican Radio .

The African Commission on Human & Peoples’ Rights has called on the Gambian government to allow journalist to go about their work without restriction.