THE GAMBIA: UPDATE ON TREASON TRIAL, MEDIA ISSUES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANJUL 000348 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/31/2016 TAGS: PGOV PHUM CASC GA SUBJECT: THE GAMBIA: UPDATE ON TREASON TRIAL, MEDIA ISSUES REF: BANJUL 318 AND PREVIOUS BANJUL 00000348 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOSEPH STAFFORD, REASON 1.4 (B AND D) SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) The trial of 16 alleged coup plotters resumed May 26 and Embassy's ACS assistant attended; the next court session is scheduled for June 9. Several suspected plotters have yet to be charged. Meanwhile, the privately-owned journal, "Independent," remains closed, and we continue to urge GOTG to permit its prompt resumption of publication. In further testimony to the negative human rights trend here, an online journal, "Freedom Newspaper," based in the U.S. and UK, was the victim of a hacker evidently acting on the GOTG's behalf; authorities announced that the journal's local "subscribers" were to report to the police for questioning. The saga of the "Independent" and "Freedom Newspaper," both known for their diehard anti-GOTG views, underscores President Jammeh's acute sensitivity to media criticism. END SUMMARY. UPDATE ON TREASON TRIAL -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Reftel reports the initial court hearing in Banjul May 10 for 16 detainees -- among them dual U.S.-Gambian national Tamsir Jasseh -- charged in connection with the coup plot foiled here March 21. The hearing resumed as scheduled on May 26, and Embassy's ACS Assistant attended. As with the earlier hearing, this latest court session lasted several hours and was devoted largely to procedural issues, as defense lawyers requested access to documentation from prosecutors, including, for example, summaries of evidence and statements by witnesses. All defendants had legal counsel, except for two enlisted military personnel, who accepted the judge's proposal to have lawyers appointed for them. The hearing is scheduled to resume June 9. ¶3. (SBU) Meanwhile, to our knowledge, several detainees, among them former National Intelligence Agency Director General Abdoulie Koujabi and Mariam Denton (latter is Jasseh's former attorney and is affiliated with an opposition party),have yet to be brought before the court and formally charged. In Koujabi's case, a knowledgeable source reports that he remains hospitalized due to beatings received while in custody. ¶4. (C) COMMENT: Sources had previously suggested that the GOTG leadership sought to move quickly on the alleged coup plotters' trial so as to wrap it up prior to the AU Summit scheduled to be held here July 1-2. However, the slow pace of the proceedings so far indicates, if anything, authorities' desire to string them out, perhaps out of concern that prompt conclusion of the trial would give it undesired publicity and provide a negative backdrop to the Summit. END COMMENT. ONGOING SAGA OF THE PRIVATE MEDIA -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Meanwhile, a privately-owned, anti-government journal, "Independent," closed by authorities shortly after the failed coup attempt, has yet to resume operation. The paper's General Manager, Madi Ceesay, told us May 30 that police are blocking access to the paper's offices and that his repeated requests to authorities for access are being ignored. We continue to raise the GOTG's action against the "Independent" with senior GOTG officials, most recently in Ambassador's May 25 meeting with Interior Minister Baboucar Jatta. The latter took on board Ambassador's urging that the GOTG promptly allow the journal to resume publication, but declined to discuss the paper's prospects. (COMMENT: At this point, we share sources' view that the GOTG is keen to keep the paper closed out of concern that, given its anti-government orientation, if allowed now to resume publication, its articles could unacceptably tarnish President Jammeh's image in the runup to the July 1-2 African Union Summit here. END COMMENT) ¶6. (SBU) Recent days have witnessed another move against a private, opposition-oriented media outlet, the U.S. and UK-based online "Freedom Newspaper." On May 23, the local pro-government daily, "Daily Observer," led with what it claimed was a statement by the "publisher" of "Freedom Newspaper," Pa Nderry Mbai, swearing allegiance to the ruling APRC party. The statement also contained a list of dozens of the largely expatriate "subscribers" to "Freedom Newspaper," describing them as "informers" and including names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Mbai BANJUL 00000348 002.2 OF 002 subsequently vehemently denied any shift of allegiance to the ruling party and vowed legal action against those responsible for what he claimed was an assault on his website by hackers. We note, per the May 30 statement by the NGO, "Reporters Without Borders," denouncing the incident, that a British Telcom client was allegedly the culprit and that the latter planted the false story of Mbai's shift to the ruling party and ferreted out the names of "subscribers." ¶7. (SBU) The GOTG, for its part, reacted by announcing that all Gambian residents named on the list of "subscribers" should report to the police for questioning. According to a journalistic contact, one local "subscriber" did indeed go to a police station, where he was questioned for several hours about political views and his contacts with "Freedom Newspaper" before being released. ¶8. (C) COMMENT: The "Freedom Newspaper" incident is yet another troubling sign of the negative human rights trend here -- and of President Jammeh and his government's acute sensitivity to media criticism. This online journal is, like the "Independent," known for its diehard anti-Jammeh outlook, and the "Daily Observer," the government's mouthpiece, was evidently acting on the GOTG's behalf in carrying the bogus story of Mbai's move to the ruling party and revealing the list of "subscribers"; the GOTG's summoning of persons on the list for police questioning is also clear evidence of its hand in this episode. END COMMENT. STAFFORD