West Africa: ECOWAS Court Rules Media Laws in Gambia Violate Human Rights

According to Amnesty International, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Regional Court of Justice yesterday ruled that media laws on sedition, false news and criminal defamation violate the right to freedom of expression in Gambia.

The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) filed the case in December 2015 along with four Gambian journalists in exile during the regime of former President Yahya Jammeh, namely Fatou Jaw Manneh, Lamin Fatty, Alhagie Jobe and Fatou Camara. The journalists argued that their rights, including their right to freedom of expression, had been violated by Gambia through the enforcement of laws criminalising libel, sedition and false news in the country.

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