Detained journalist released after three days

The Gambian authorities have released Abdoulaye Sey, editor of The Independent newspaper, after questioning him for three days about an article critical of the president, the chairman of The Gambia Press Union, Demba Jawo said on Tuesday. "Abdoulaye Sey was released last night. He was extensively interrogated about an opinion article written by a Gambian living in the USA that was carried by the paper. The article was critical of President Yahya Jammeh," Jawo told IRIN by telephone from the capital, Bangul. "The arrest came to us out of the blue," he added. Several media watchdog organisations criticised Sey's arrest and demanded his release. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Tuesday: "We fear he has been arrested because of his work as a journalist." RSF quoted eyewitnesses as saying Sey was arrested by three men and taken away in a black car with no number plates. The staff of The Independent, a bi-weekly newspaper, and the Gambia Press Union, both urged the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) to free Sey. However, the NIA said it was not involved and did not know where he was. The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) said it was deeply worried about the deteriorating state of press freedom in the Gambia, a former British colony of 700,000 people, which lives off tourism and groundnuts. The issue of press freedom has been a hot topic in the Gambia since a new law was passed in 2002, conferring wide-ranging powers of sanction and closure on a government-controlled Media Commission. Its members are appointed by the president. The commission is responsible for registering media organisations and journalists. It has power to penalise, fine and suspend journalists and can even sentence them to terms of imprisonment. On 11 September, the commission ordered all independent media houses and practitioners to register anew. Media organisations who fail to comply with the order will be liable for a fine of at least 10,000 Gambia dalasis (US $330), while individual journalists who fail to register will be fined at least 5,000 dalasis ($165). Jawo said the Gambia Press Union has filed a case in the Gambian Supreme Court against the new media law. "We have filed but the Court is on holiday, so the case has not been heard yet," he told IRIN. The Gambia, a small country encircled by Senegal, has been ruled since 1994 by Jammeh who seized power in a military coup when he was a 28-year-old lieutenant in the army. Jammeh tried to legitimise his rule by organising elections in 1998 which he won. However, Commonwealth observers refused to endorse the poll saying it was "obviously flawed".