Journalist accuses ex-Gambian president Jammeh of journalist Hydara's murder

Banjul, Gambia(PANA) - Veteran Gambian journalist Pape Babucarr Saine has accused ex-president Yahya Jammeh and his men of the murder of Deyda Hydara, a co-founder of The Point Newspaper.

In his testimony at the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) on Thursday he said Deyda was a target for two reasons: His Good Morning Mr. President Column and his stance against the National Media Commission Bill that the government wanted to enact at the National Assembly.

Saine, co-founder and managing editor of The Point newspaper, told the commission that Hydara never informed him of any threats but staff of the newspaper were not surprised.

“It was not a surprised that Jammeh's regime killed him because he was always sensitising the populace about the corrupt practices of the regime as well as the rights violations that were going on at the time," Saine pointed out.

According to him, on the evening of the death of Hydara he was expecting him to preside over the marriage ceremony of his brother but after many attempts to reach him on phone failed he decided that someone else should preside over the ceremony.

He said it was his wife who informed him that he had missed a lot of calls from their secretary and that he should call back.

"I fainted when the news of Hydara's death was announced to me by our secretary. I couldn't absorb what was wrong and who may have been responsible because there were no threats noticed."

He told the commission that Deyda was shot three times, adding that Nyang Sarang Jobe and Ida Jagne, both staff of the newspaper, were on board the vehicle that Hydara was driving.

-0- PANA MSS/MA 19July2019