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Gambia News : Augustine Kanjia , photo journalist granted bail
Augustine Kanjia, a photo journalist with the Gambian private daily The Point, has been granted bail, following his arrest Monday at the sedition hearing of seven journalists who were arrested and detained last week, PANA reported Thursday. Kanjia was among dozens of journalists, including a camera crew from state-run Gambia Radio and Television Service, who had gathered outside a packed magistrate court in the Kanifing suburb of Serrekunda.
The journalist, who was arrested for trying to snap photograph of the crowd outside the Kanifing Magistrates’ Court during the pre-trial hearing, was granted police bail to the tune of D50,000 about (US$1,700).
Kanjia, a Sierra Leone native who fled during that country's civil war, was asked to report to the police every morning as part of the bail conditions.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement Wednesday calling for the release of the journalist.
“This arrest, in the wake of last week's imprisonment of seven senior Gambian journalists, highlights a long-standing pattern of criminalization and intimidation of independent journalism,” said CPJ Africa Programme Coordinator Tom Rhodes. “We call on authorities to release Augustine Kanjia immediately.”
Since 2001, at least 10 journalists have fled persecution and abuse in the Gambia, one of the world's worst backsliders on press freedom, according to CPJ.
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