Gambian journalists remember slain colleague

Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - The Gambia Press Union (GPU), in collaboration with the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ) and the Association of Non-Governmental Organization (TANGO), will Friday, 16 December, 2011, commemorate the seventh anniversary of the murder of Deyda Hydara, proprietor and managing editor of The Point newspaper in Gambia, PANA reports from here.

The commemoration also marks the quest to seek justice for the slain journalist and promote press freedom in the small West African State.

As Part of the ceremony, the day will be observed by colleagues with a public lecture on the theme "the role of the media in creating an open society".

According to a press release from the GPU, unknown Gambians, still at large, killed Hydara in a drive-by shooting on the night of 16 December, 2004.

It said that the Hydara murder plunged the Gambia media fraternity into despondency from which it is yet to recover.

Despite repeated calls for the State to investigate the murder and punish the culprits, no clear steps have been taken so far.

The first report on the murder, conducted by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) in 2005, openly blamed the deceased for his own death, coming up with all sorts of hypothesis without clues.

Since then, there has been no further action on the matter by the government.
-0- PANA MSS/VAO 15Dec2011