FOROYAA Newspaper (Serrekunda)
11 July 2009
The ECOWAS Community Court hearing the case of torture brought by Musa Saidykhan, a Gambian journalist against the operatives of the Gambia's National Intelligence Agency (NIA), on June 30, 2009 dismissed the preliminary objection raised by the Gambian government, the defendant in the case, according to a press release issued by the Media Foundation for West Africa.
According to the Community court, Saidykhan is a citizen of West Africa and that the court is mandated by the ECOWAS protocol to hear human rights violation cases brought before it.
On the legal remedies, the three- member panel overruled a claim by the Gambian government that the plaintiff (Saidykhan) failed to exhaust the local remedies by making reference to its protocol authorizing it to hear cases by citizens of member states without having to exhaust remedies in local national courts.
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in November 2007 brought the suit on behalf of Saidykhan.
Commenting on the ruling, Shola Egbeyinka, a member of the legal team of Saidykhan hailed the court's ruling saying it is a boost for media freedom and would go a along way to protect journalists in the West African-sub region.
According to the release, The Gambian government, who had previously failed to attend the proceedings of the court on two occasions, was represented in court by Marie Saine-Firdaus, the country's Attorney General.
The case of Saidykhan, editor-in-chief of The Independent, is as follows: He was arrested on the night of March 27, 2006, by a combined force of armed soldiers and policemen in his home and taken to the NIA headquarters, where he was held incommunicado for 22 days without any charge. During this period he was tortured until he became unconscious. The continuous torture left scars on his back, legs, arms, and his right hand which was broken in three places.
The court fixed October 28, 2009 for the commencement of the trial.
The MFWA is a regional independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Accra. It was founded in 1997 to defend and promote the rights and freedom of the media and all forms of expression.
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