Editing The Gambia (section)

===Media===

{{main|Gambia Radio & Television Service|Radio Gambia|List of newspapers in the Gambia}}

Critics have accused the government of restricting free speech. A 2002 law created a commission with the power to issue licences and imprison journalists; in 2004, additional legislation allowed prison sentences for libel and slander and cancelled all print and broadcasting licenses, forcing media groups to re-register at five times the original cost.<ref name="BBCProfile">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles/1032156.stm#media |title=Country profile: The Gambia |publisher=[[BBC News website]] |access-date=16 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123010005/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles/1032156.stm#media |archive-date=23 November 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=199422&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/ |title=President tightens media laws in The Gambia |date=11 May 2005 |newspaper=[[Mail & Guardian]] |access-date=16 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080219055811/http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=199422&area=%2Fbreaking_news%2Fbreaking_news__africa%2F |archive-date=19 February 2008}}</ref>

Three Gambian journalists have been arrested since the coup attempt. It has been suggested that they were imprisoned for criticising the government's economic policy, or for stating that a former interior minister and security chief was among the plotters.<ref>{{cite news |title=Banjul newspaper reporter freed on bail pending trial |date=13 June 2006 |publisher=[[Reporters without borders]] |url=http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=17063 |access-date=16 October 2008 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060513112031/http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=17063 |archive-date=13 May 2006}}</ref> Newspaper editor [[Deyda Hydara]] was shot to death under unexplained circumstances, days after the 2004 legislation took effect.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}

Licensing fees are high for newspapers and radio stations, and the only nationwide stations are tightly controlled by the government.<ref name="BBCProfile" />

[[Reporters Without Borders]] has accused "President [[Yahya Jammeh]]'s police state" of using murder, arson, unlawful arrest and death threats against journalists.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gambia – Annual report 2005 |date=December 2004 |publisher=[[Reporters Without Borders]] |url=http://archives.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=13576 |access-date=16 October 2008 |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20170426044528/http://archives.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article%3D13576 |archive-date=26 April 2017}}</ref>

In December 2010, [[Musa Saidykhan]], former editor of [[The Independent (Gambia)|''The Independent'' newspaper]], was awarded US$200,000 by the [[ECOWAS Court]] in [[Abuja|Abuja, Nigeria]]. The court found the Government of The Gambia guilty of torture while he was detained without trial at the [[State Intelligence Services (The Gambia)|National Intelligence Agency]]. Apparently he was suspected of knowing about the 2006 failed coup.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Major Camara narrates his involvement in 2006 abortive coup - The Point |url=https://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/headlines/major-camara-narrates-his-involvement-in-2006-abortive-coup |access-date=29 May 2024 |website=thepoint.gm}}</ref>