Media Foundation for West Africa (Accra)
23 May 2008
press release
Mam Sait Ceesay, a former editor of the pro-government Daily Observer newspaper, who has been standing trial on two counts of publishing and broadcasting false information, was on May 19, 2008 acquitted and discharged of the offences by the Banjul Magistrate court.
Meanwhile, Malick Jones, a principal prosecution witness who testified in the matter during the trial of Ceesay, has been arrested.
According to the trial magistrate, Kayode H.Olajubutu, the prosecution woefully failed to establish a prima facie case against the journalist.
On September 9, 2007, Ceesay and Malick Jones, another journalist with the state-owned Gambia Radio and Television Service (GRTS), were arrested and held incommunicado for three days over a story that Ebrima J.T Kujabi, President Yahya Jammeh's press secretary, had been replaced.
Ceesay, also a former press officer at the office of the President of The Gambia, was alleged to have masterminded the publication. He was on February 25, 2008 arraigned before court and charged with the two counts.
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