Gambia charges U.S.-based reporter Fatou Jaw Manneh with sedition

Apr 04,2007 00:00 by lamin

BANJUL (Reuters) - A U.S.-based journalist appeared in court on Wednesday in her native Gambia charged with sedition over online articles critical of President Yahya Jammeh.

Fatou Jaw Manneh was detained a week ago at the tiny West African country's airport after she arrived to visit family.

She was charged with intention to commit sedition, publication of seditious words and publication of false news intended to create public fear and alarm.

The court prosecutor accused Manneh of publishing an October 2005 article which said Jammeh was "tearing our beloved country to shreds" and also described him as "a bundle of terror".

A court in Kanifing near the capital Banjul released her on bail of 25,000 Gambian dalasi ($900) until April 11.

Manneh, who is in her late 30s, worked on Gambia's pro-government Daily Observer newspaper in the late 1990s before going to study in the United States.

Now living in Washington DC, she has written stories for opposition websites critical of Jammeh's government.

Gambian authorities periodically detain journalists who criticize Jammeh, a former coup leader who said after his re-election last year he would ban any newspaper that offended him.

Press freedom watchdogs have criticized Gambia's government for detaining journalists, often without charge, and demanded further investigation into the 2004 killing of prominent journalist Deyda Hydara, who was shot dead in his car.

Official inquiries into the murder have so far been inconclusive.