Slain Gambian journalists leader - Deyda Hydara |
Gunmen, who remain at large, killed Deyda Hydara, the co-proprietor and
managing editor of The Point newspaper in
a drive-by shooting on the night of December 16, 2004.
His murder which coincided with the 13th
anniversary of his newspaper, plunge Gambia's media fraternity into a mood of
despondency that it is yet to recover from, leaving civil and human rights
organisations around the world in utter disbelief.
An erstwhile Gambia Press Union (GPU) President and an
advocate for press freedom and of expression, Deyda has been a well-known
critic of government policies and programmes and fought for the improvement of
the living standards of the ever growing poor populations in the country.
His criticisms have been published in his newspaper's
editorials and two columns "Good Morning Mr. President" and "The Bite".
Deyda and his cohorts fought tooth and nail in court for
the repeal of the 2002 National Media Commission (NMC), which was later disbanded
in 2004 following the repulsion of the law that formed it. The
government-appointed Commission required journalists to register, compel them
to disclose their sources and to try and jail journalists.
“Deyda
Hydara’s shooting death is believed to be tied to his principled and fierce
opposition to the new Media Bill that was introduced by Gambia’s National
Assembly, which sought to severely curtail and restrict the space in which the
Gambian media exercised their civil rights and practiced their craft,” the
newly formed pro-democracy grouping, Civil Society Associations-Gambia (CSAG)
said.
His family has decided off late to charge the Gambia
Government to the Abuja-based ECOWAS Community Court of Justice with the
support of the Media Foundation For West Africa (MFWA).
They want the government to thoroughly investigate
Deyda’s death and preferably bring the perpetrators to book. The Accra-based
press freedom and free expression watchdog, MFWA has won two cases (disappeared
and tortured journalists) against the Gambia government at the same court
in 2008 and 2011.
The Gambia Government has repeatedly denied having a hand in Deyda's
death. In a recent BBC interview, Gambia's
President Yahya AJJ Jammeh denied that the government's security agents had
killed him. "Listen to me: Is he the only Gambian who died? Is he better
than Gambians who die in accidents, Gambians who die at sea, Gambians who die
on their way to Europe?" Mr Jammeh asked.
A few day's to the seventh anniversary of the gruesome murder, the GPU argues that "despite repeated calls for the State to investigate
the murder and punish the culprits, no discernible step has been taken so far.
The first report on the murder conducted by the National Intelligence Agency
(NIA) in 2005 openly blamed the decease for his own death."
"It came up with all sorts of hypotheses without pushing the clues. And since then, there has been no further action on the matter," Gambian journalists parent body added.
"It came up with all sorts of hypotheses without pushing the clues. And since then, there has been no further action on the matter," Gambian journalists parent body added.
CPJ: Deyda Hydara and his wife Maria circa 1989 (Hydara family) |
In 2009,
the Publisher and Proprietor of The Daily News newspaper and former GPU
President, Madi M.K. Ceesay said of the stalled investigations “the earlier the
better for us all, it is not in the interest of Gambian journalists neither in
the interest of the government, it is in the interest of us all.”
"It is five years since he was murdered, why did it
take this long to apprehend the perpetrators”, he asked”.
In the quest to seek justice for the slain journalist and
promote press freedom in the country, the GPU in cooperation with the
International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and the Association of Non Governmental
Organisation (TANGO) on December 17, 2011 organised a public lecture on the
theme "Role of the Media in
Creating an Open Society" to commemorate the murder of Deyda
Hydara.
It has become a tradition that every year the media in
the country remember the day with public lectures, addressing pertinent issues
that affect journalism, journalists and development in general.
Participants at the event wore t-shirts bearing Deyda’s
image at the front with an inscription at the back asking: Who killed Deyda Hydara?
Hopelessly, a Gambian journalist said: “This is the
question most widely asked for almost a decade. I wish those responsible for
this cowardly act could have openly showed up in our life time.”
Deyda Hydara (June 9, 1946 – December 16, 2004) was a co-founder and
primary editor of The
Point, a major independent Gambian newspaper. He was
also a correspondent for both AFP
News Agency and Reporters
Without Borders for more than 30 years. He also worked as a Presenter
at a Swedish-owned amplitude modulation broadcaster in Gambia, Radio Syd during his early years as a freelance journalist.
On December 16, 2004, Hydara was killed in his car by
unidentified gunmen; two of his colleagues were also injured. As of December
2011, his murder remains unsolved.
In 2005, Hydara was posthumously honoured with a PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. He is also
named among “Heroes
of African Journalism” by the African Editors Forum (TAEF) in October 2010.
Deyda Hydara is survived by his wife and his five
children.
The author is a Gambian journalist,
News Editor of The Voice Newspaper in Banjul and Publisher of The North Bank Evening Standard.
He twits (@Msjoof)
Facebookpage:http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-North-Bank-Evening-Standard/143284775736581
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