Abuja,
Nigeria, January 8, 2015 - An independent radio station that Gambian
authorities ordered to stop broadcasting from January 1 to 4 after a failed
coup attempt in the country has been allowed back on air, but ordered to play
only music, according to news reports and local journalists.
The
crackdown on community station Taranga FM came after a failed coup attempt on
December 30. The station had not broadcast reports on the attempted coup,
according to local journalists.
He has been ordered to report daily to the
police, who have not charged him or given an explanation for his harassment,
local journalists told the Committee to Protect Journalists.
"The
arbitrary censorship of Taranga FM is the latest attempt to restrict
independent voices in Gambia," said Peter Nkanga, CPJ's West Africa
representative. "We call on authorities to allow the station to resume
broadcasting freely and to stop harassing its staff."
Authorities
did not give any reason for the closure of the radio station, which is based in
the village of Sinchu Alhagie, about 15 kilometres from the capital, Banjul,
the reports said. The radio resumed broadcasting on January 4 after it
was warned to play only music and stop all regular programs including current
affairs, news reports said.
Media reports speculated that the failed attack on the
presidential palace in Banjul on December 30, which was thwarted when guards
fought off the gunmen, would be used by President Yahya Jammeh as an excuse to
crackdown on the press.
While
the armed attack at the presidential palace was taking place, local media did
not report on it and state-owned and privately-run radio stations played only
music for fear of government arrest or shut down, local journalists told CPJ. President
Jammeh, who was out of the country at the time of the coup attempt, called it a terrorist attack carried out by Gambian dissidents in the U.S., Germany, and the U.K., news reports
said.
Authorities
have previously censored Taranga FM, which translates news from international
media and local Gambian newspapers into local languages, according to CPJ research.
In August 2012, security agents citing
"directives from above" forced the station off the air without
providing any explanation, revoked the station's license, and took contact
information about its board members, according to news reports. The ban was lifted in January 2014 as a New
Year goodwill gesture, according to news reports.
CPJ is an
independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom
worldwide.
Media contacts:
Sue Valentine
Africa Program
Coordinator
Peter Nkanga
West Africa
Representative
Email: pnkanga@cpj.org
Tom Rhodes
East Africa
Representative
Email: trhodes@cpj.org
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