Calls for the release of Journalist Darboe intensify as police deny him bail 24 hours after his arrest

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The detained Journalist Momodou Justice Darboe

By: Kebba Ansu Manneh

There is an increasing call for the immediate release and dismissal of unfounded publication and broadcasting allegations against Momodou Justice Darboe, an experienced journalist who was detained by the police on Thursday.

The Gambia Police Force refused to grant him bail after the Gambia Press Union Leadership engaged the Inspector General of Police, Seedy Touray, to discuss the situation of the detained journalists and requested the police to release him on bail while awaiting the outcome of the investigations into the case.

The embattled senior editor of The Voice Newspaper was charged by the police on Thursday, September 26, 2024, with false publication and broadcasting after reporting on Monday, September 23, that Gambian President Adama Barrow is working on an exit plan and has chosen businessman Muhammed Jah as his successor.

On Friday, September 27, 2024, the President of the Gambia Press Union, Muhammed S. Bah, together with his executive members, made a desperate effort to engage the Inspector General of Police Seedy Tour in securing the band release of Journalist Momodou Justice Darboe.

Despite the Union’s efforts, they became futile after the Gambia Police Force declined to grant the detained Senior Editor of The Voice Newspaper any reprieve. This has caused dismay among the journalists’ fraternity, who have called on Gambian President Adama Barrow to drop all charges and release him unconditionally.

This recent development comes after the Gambia Press Union released a statement condemning the journalist’s ongoing detention. The journalist union emphasized that Momodou Justice Darboe’s article adhered to fair and balanced reporting principles and did not justify his arrest and detention.

“The story in question, reviewed by the GPU, does not carry any defamatory statements. It upholds the principles of balance and fairness in news reporting in the Cherno Jollow Charter of Ethics for Journalists (the code of conduct for Gambian journalists). It has provided space to two senior officials of the President’s Party and the National People’s Party to reply to the claims. The paper also carried a story on September 24 in which the ruling party’s administrative secretary denied claims that President Barrow has settled for a business tycoon as his successor,” GPU said in a statement.

According to the police, the news story ” allegedly contains misleading information intended to cause public alarm.”

However, the GPU found nothing alarming about the report. The Newspaper’sNewspaper’s Editor-In-Chief rejected the allegations after President Adama Barrow instructed his lawyers to issue an ultimatum that The Voice Newspaper “retract the article within 24 hours” and provide a “befitting apology to the president” or face a defamation suit.”

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