On 16 December 1991, The Point was founded by Pap Saine, Deyda Hydara, and Babucarr Gaye; Hydara and Saine had been friends since childhood.[1] Gaye resigned four months later,[2] and Hydara and Saine ran the paper together for the next decade.[3] Saine also worked as a Reuters correspondent for West Africa.[3]
During the first two years of its establishment, the paper came out every Monday, and then every Monday and Thursday. In 1995, the paper came out thrice weekly, and then four times a week in 2001 (on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays). In 2006, the paper became a daily newspaper.[4]
In the early 2000s, the paper ran a weekly history column. The Gambian statesman and historian Alieu Ebrima Cham Joof was a columnist and contributor to that column, some of which included The Genesis of The Half-Die Mosque by Alieu Ebrima Joof (Friday, 9 May 2003).[5]
On 16 December 2004, Deyda Hydar, one of the paper's co-founders was assassinated under the administration of the Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh. Following Hydrar's assassination, the paper continued to place the picture of Hydrar on its website with the text "Who killed Deyda Hydar?" After Hydrar death, his wife Mrs Maria Hydara replaced him on the management team.[4]
Hydara murder
On 14 December 2004, the Gambia passed two new media laws. One, the Criminal Code (Amendment) Bill 2004, allowed prison terms for defamation and sedition; the other, the Newspaper (Amendment) Bill 2004, required newspaper owners to purchase expensive operating licenses, registering their homes as security. Hydara announced his intent to challenge these laws, but on 16 December, was assassinated by an unknown gunman while driving home from work in Banjul. Hydara's murder was never solved.[6]
Following Hydara's death, Saine continued to edit The Point, making it a daily in 2006.[1] It soon became the Gambia's only independent newspaper.[7]
2009 arrests
On 2 February 2009, Saine and Point reporter Modou Sanyang were arrested by Gambian police for suspicion of "publishing and spreading false information". Sanyang was released with a warning, but Saine was formally charged. According to the Media Foundation of West Africa, the arrests had been prompted by a Point story titled "Arrested Gambian Diplomat Sent to Mile 2", in which the paper reported that Lamini Sabi Sanyang, an arrested official from Gambia's US Embassy, had been transferred to Mile 2 Prison; Saine had been detained for refusing to reveal his source.[8] One week later, following another report on Gambia's US Embassy, Saine was arrested again, interrogated at length, and given a second charge of "publishing and spreading false information".[9]
On 24 February, authorities also accused Saine of being Senegalese and having obtained a Gambian birth certificate through "false statements". He faced separate trials for each set of charges, both on 12 March in Banjul.[10]Reporters Without Borders described the investigation of Saine as "hounding" and called on Kamalesh Sharma, the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, to intervene.[7]
On 9 April, the charges of "publishing and spreading false information" were formally dropped.[9]
Hydara murder controversy and defamation trial
In November 2008, the International Press Institute began a "Justice Denied" campaign pressing for investigations into violence against journalists in the Gambia, particularly the still-unsolved murder of Deyda Haydara. At a June 2009 press conference, Gambian President Yahya Jammeh disparaged questions about the Hydara investigation, saying "And up to now one of these stupid Web sites carries 'Who Killed Deyda Hydara'? Let them go and ask Deyda Hydara who killed him."[6]The Gambia Press Union then published a statement criticizing the lack of press freedom in Gambia, the stalled progress of the investigation, and the president's remarks, which the union called "inappropriate".[9][11] The statement ran in The Point and a weekly newspaper, Foroyaa, on 11 June.[9]
The Gambian government responded by arresting six journalists: Pap Saine, News Editor Ebrima Sawaneh, and reporters Sarata Jabbi-Dibba and Pa Modou Faal of The Point; and editor Sam Saar and reporters Emil Touray of Foroyaa. The six were charged with sedition and criminal defamation of the president.[12] Jabbi-Dibba (the only woman) was held in Mile 2 prison, while Saine, Sawaneh, Faal, Saar, and Touray were held in Old Jeshwang prison. On 8 August, Jabbi-Dibba's seven-month-old baby was taken away.[11]
On 7 August 2009, the six were convicted and sentenced to two years' imprisonment in Mile 2 Prison, as well as a fine of 250,000 dalasi (£5,780) apiece.[19] However, Jammeh pardoned them in September, following a campaign of "domestic and international pressure".[12] The pardons were issued to coincide with Ramadan.[3]
In 2006, Saine was awarded the Johann Philipp Palm Award for his work with the paper.[22] The award is named for a bookseller executed by Napoleon, and recognizes individuals who are "of outstanding prominence in the promotion of freedom of opinion and the press".[23]
In 2010, Saine was named a World Press Freedom Hero by the International Press Institute. He is the third West African to have won the title, following Kenneth Best (Liberia) and Freedom Neruda (Côte d'Ivoire). Saine described the award as a morale-booster and "an inspiration for journalists who are fighting for freedom of the press and the interests of justice, democracy and human rights not only in the Gambia but in all of Africa".[3]
The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, and sometimes shortened to just Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland Africa and is surrounded by Senegal, except for its western coast on the Atlantic Ocean. The Gambia is situated on both sides of the lower reaches of the Gambia River, the nation's namesake, which flows through the centre of The Gambia and empties into the Atlantic Ocean, and elucidates the long shape of the country. It has an area of 11,300 square kilometres (4,400 sq mi) with a population of 1,857,181 as of the April 2013 census. Banjul is the Gambian capital and the country's largest metropolitan area, while the largest cities are Serekunda and Brikama.
Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh is a Gambian politician and former military officer, who served as President of the Gambia from 1996 to 2017, as well as Chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council from 1994 to 1996.
The Independent was a biweekly newspaper published in Banjul, the Gambia. The paper was started in July 1999 with 25 staffers and freelance reporters, but after multiple raids, acts of arbitrary arrest and detention, and unsolved acts of arson, The Independent ceased publication in March 2006.
Kukoi Samba Sanyang was a Gambian politician and leader of the unsuccessful 1981 coup d'état against the government of Dawda Jawara.
The Gambia Scout Association, the national scouting organization of the Gambia, was founded in 1921, and became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1984.
Deyda Hydara 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. Hydara also worked as a Radio presenter in the Gambia called Radio Syd during his early years as a freelance journalist.
The Daily Observer is a newspaper published in Bakau in Banjul, the Gambia.
Ebrima B. Manneh was a Gambian journalist who was arrested in July 2006 and secretly held in custody. In March 2019, the Gambian newspapers The Trumpet and "The Point" newspaper reported that Manneh died in mid-2008 while being taken from a police station to the Diabugu Batapa hospital. It is said that he was buried behind the local police station.
Abdul Hamid Adiamoh is a Nigerian journalist and publisher of Today Newspaper in the Gambia.
Madi Ceesay is a Gambian journalist. He served as president of the Gambia Press Union, and was imprisoned and harassed for his journalistic work. According to the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Ceesay's work has provided critical support for freedom of the press in Gambia, where journalists were frequently imprisoned and attacked.
Alieu Ebrima Cham Joof commonly known as Cham Joof or Alhaji Cham Joof, was a Gambian historian, politician, author, trade unionist, broadcaster, radio programme director, scout master, Pan-Africanist, lecturer, columnist, activist and an African nationalist who advocated for the Gambia's independence during the colonial era.
Pap Saine is a Gambian editor and publisher of the English-language independent newspaper, The Point. In 2010, the International Press Institute named him a World Press Freedom Hero for his work.
The Gambia Press Union (GPU) is a trade union for journalists in the Gambia. It was established in 1978 by a group of journalists, led by the veteran Gambian journalist and publisher William Dixon Colley (1913-2001). Other co-founders included Deyda Hydara (1946-2004), Melvin B. Jones and Pap Saine.
Pap Cheyassin Secka or Pap Cheyassin Ousman Secka was a Gambian lawyer and politician. He was the minister of justice and the former Attorney General of the Gambia.
Adama Barrow is a Gambian politician and real estate developer who has served as President of the Gambia since 2017.
Hawa Sisay-Sabally is a Gambian lawyer who served as Attorney General from 1996–1998 and has since spoken out against corruption in The Gambia and represented opposition politicians in criminal cases regarding their participation in pro-democracy protests.
Lamin K. Saine is a Gambian politician and former security official who is one of five nominated members of the National Assembly appointed by President Yahya Jammeh following the 2012 parliamentary election. Saine also served as Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency from 2012 to 2013.
Marie Saine-Firdaus is a Gambian lawyer and politician.
Ndey Tapha Sosseh is a Gambian journalist and unionist. In 2004, she became editor-in-chief of The Daily Observer, making her the first female editor-in-chief of a daily newspaper in the Gambia's history. From 2008 to 2011, she served as president of the Gambia Press Union.
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