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Momodou
Denmark
11732 Posts |
 Posted - 10 Sep 2009 : 17:17:04
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Culled from The daily News
Editorial:
As Presidential Pardon Is Welcome, We Join The Point for an Extention....
The Daily News extends its gratitude to the President of the republic of The Gambia for extending his prerogative of mercy to the six convicted journalists last week.
The gesture is in the right direction and if it is anything to go by, the act should be able to go a long way in changing the climate surrounding the relationship between the government and the private media. Which relationship has been one of uncompromising on the side of both parties. We hope this prerogative of mercy by the president will be a start of a fruitful dialogue between the private media and government.
The release that contained the news, reads as follows “In the sprite of compassion, and in recognition of the holy month of Ramadan, a month of supplication and forgiveness, His Excellency the President of the republic , Sheikh Professor Alhagie Dr. Yahya AJJ Jammeh, has decided to exercise his powers vested on him by Section 82, Sub section 1 of the Constitution of the Gambia, 1997 on prerogative of mercy to pardon the following journalists who were convicted in court for the offences of sedition and criminal defamation, Ebrima Sawaneh, Pa Modou Faal, Bai Emil Touray, Sam Sarr and Pap Saine”
This presidential pardon of our colleagues, who have all accepted it in good faith and are joined by the staff of the Daily News, is welcome news. We are grateful to Allah and the president. In the same vein The Daily News is calling on the President to use the same compassion for the sake of the holy month of Ramadan and extend the same presidential pardon to the President of The Gambia Press Union, Ms Ndey Tapha Sosseh, who at the time of the arrest of these six journalists was out of the country. She is not only President of the GPU, but also 1st Vice President of West African Journalists Association (WAJA), and Treasurer of Federation of African Journalists (FAJ).
Apart from the presidential pardon which we have no doubt will have a positive impact on the relationship between the private media and the government, there is a need to amend these media laws , as they are archaic and out of date for our present day Gambia. To create a better atmosphere for journalists, our media laws need to be amended.
Mr. President these media laws particularly those of sedition and defamation, are laws that are still part of our statutory books, and unless they are amended to suit the present day times, you may continued to extend prerogatives of mercy. There is a need to decriminalize laws such as the Newspaper Amendment Act of 2004, and that of the Criminal Code Amendment Act of 2004. Once this is done is like you have succeeded in getting rid of the symptoms, otherwise the picture is like you treat the disease and the symptoms remain.
The way forward is one of a national conference; it is only through such that the media, government and the general public can dialogue. Such forums are where one can be able to trash out misconceptions and misunderstandings that constantly exit. We believe that a National Conference where all stakeholders should be allowed to take part is the only way forward for the media and those they serve in this country.
Source: The Daily News
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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