The 2", 3" and 4" Applicants are the Nationals of the Defendant and Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) citizens who now live in exile. They
averred that they fled The Gambia (the Defendants) “for fear of persecution and
other forms of persecution including, the fear of physical and mental harm, as a
consequence of their work as Journalists.
The 2™ Plaintiff further avers that following false accusation of authoring an article
against the President of the Defendant, she was arrested and detained on the 15" of
September 2013 by officers of the Security Agency of the Defendant; consequent
upon which on the 10" of October, 2013, she was charged under the false news
provisions of $.59 of the criminal code 2009 and S. 173A of the information and
Communications
(Amendment)
Act 2013. She was required to provide bail of
Gambian Dalasi (GMD) of 5, 000,000 (five million Gambian Dalasi).
She avers out of fear that her trial was politically motivated, she fled through Senegal
to the United States where she remained in exile till date. (See the 2" Applicants
witness Statement).
On her part, the Third Applicant avers that following series of Articles and public
statements made by her between September 2003 and October 2005 criticizing the
Government and President of the Defendant, she was detained
on the 28” of March
2007, interrogated charged and subsequently tried ( according to the 3" Defendant)