The late Deyda Hydara was the co-founder, publisher and editor of The Point
newspaper in The Gambia. He was a reputable journalist. According to the
plaintiffs the deceased devoted
his life to protecting media freedom in The
Gambia. The plaintiffs averred that in the weeks preceding his death the deceased
received several death threats in connection with his jou rnalistic work. They
contended that on the day of his demise a person suspected to be an operative of
the state security service placed the deceased under constant surveillance. He
was murdered in a drive by shooting on the night of 16th December 2004 whilst in
the company of two employees of The Point newspaper.
It is the
plaintiffs' case that
the
defendant failed
to
carry
out
effective
investigation into the murder of Deyda Hydara Sr; they also averred that the
Serious Crimes Unit of The Gambia police as well as the National Intelligence
Agency (NIA) did not do any thorough investigations. They claimed that these
investigative organs of state failed to investigate eye-witness evidence; crime
scene evidence; ballistic evidence;
death threats
to· Mr. Hydara; apparent
Government surveillance of Mr. Hydara on the day of the incident; potential
suspects as well as any motive other than personal revenge. The plaintiffs claimed
that no public scrutiny of the investigations was allowed. And the government
was quick to prosecute seven journalists for sedition when they spoke out against
the failure to investigate the murder. Likewise the family of the deceased was not
involved in the investigations.
On the claim founded on a climate of impunity, the plaintiffs averred that the
defendant tolerated attacks against journalists, among others. They cited specific
instances of such abuse which the State did not care to investigate and prosecute
the perpetrators. According to the plaintiffs by failing to effectively investigate
multiple attacks against the media stretching for several years prior to the Hydara
assassination,
the
Gambian
authorities created
and tolerated a
climate
of
complete impunity that did nothing to deter and inevitably contributed to the
attack on Mr. Hydara's life.
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