"My army and [members of] my armed forces are professionals and the whole world knows that. The nature of the offence shows that if it were done by my armed forces, there is no soldier in my army who will shoot at a human being twice and miss and you expect that individual to live.”...... Those were the words of Yaya Jammeh during the 2004 legal year celebrations when asked about the assasination attempt on Lawyer Ousman Sillah.
Then this shocking news culled from the BBC...
Leading Gambian editor shot dead
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One of The Gambia's leading journalists was shot dead as he drove home from work shortly after midnight. Deyda Hydara, 58, editor of The Point newspaper and correspondent for the AFP news agency was shot three times in the head, his colleague said. He was sharply critical of a tough new press law which was passed this week. The private media has complained that the government is trying to muzzle it. In April, the printing press of another paper were burnt down. The Independent accused state security agents of being behind the attack - a charge denied by the authorities. The police say they have opened an investigation into the killing, in which two women travelling in Mr Hydara's car were also injured. "He has been very critical of the government and very vocal in opposition to these repressive laws but that does not mean that he, of all people, should have been the target of an assassin's bullet," said the head of the Gambian Press Union, Demba Ali Diao. The law was passed on Tuesday. It provides for jail terms for those found guilty of libel or sedition and the seizure of the homes of the editors of libellous newspapers. The government said the law was needed to make journalists more responsible. |
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This is the kind of atrocities I was worried about in a posting I made in august titled sword vs the pen. See archives.
If a leader can threaten journalist with phrases like six feet deep and one of them end up shot in cold blood, it shouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the perpetrators will never be brought to justice...
Ya Soffie in an emotional posting on the Gpost sums up this tragedy thus.....
Not a single murder have ever been investigated, none! Yaya came out plainly and told us that those in the opposition will not live to witness the next elections. We are continuing the count. The only language he understands is the one he speaks and it is about time we wise up to that and show him that we too can speak his language. His people did not miss this time. But folks, we know what Jammeh is like, what are we like? What does this say about us? Is it our complacency that's allowing the killing of fine people like Deyda and the attempts on others?
That is Gambia for you folks....