Gambian journalists charged with false news over president’s exit plan report

“It is outrageous that President Adama Barrow praised his country’s press freedom record at the UN General Assembly on the day journalists Musa Sekou Sheriff and Momodou Justice Darboe were detained and later charged with ‘false news’ over their reporting on his chosen successor and exit plan ahead of the 2026 presidential election,” said Angela Quintal, head of CPJ’s Africa Program, in New York. “The charges must be dropped immediately, and the Gambia’s false news law must be repealed to ensure that journalism is not criminalized as it was under former dictator Yahya Jammeh.”

Authorities arrested Sheriff and Darboe at police headquarters on September 26 in the capital city of Banjul when they arrived for questioning a day after they received a letter from the president’s lawyer threatening a civil defamation lawsuit  . The letter, reviewed by CPJ, demanded that the newspaper apologize and retract an article alleging the president was working on an exit plan and had chosen a successor for the 2026 presidential election. 

Darboe was detained and charged with false publication and broadcasting, released September 28 on 25,000 dalasi (US$357) bail. Sheriff was released then detained again on September 30, charged with false publication and broadcasting before being released on bail with a bond of 50,000 dalasi (US$714).  

If convicted, the journalists face up to a year in prison and a fine of not less than 50,000 Dalasi (US$714) and not exceeding 250,000 Dalasi (US$3,597).

Barrow’s lawyer, Ida Drameh, national police spokesperson Modou Musa Sisawo, and Justice Minister and Attorney-General Dawda A. Jallow did not return requests for comment sent via WhatsApp.

Barrow’s press director Amie Bojang-Sissoho acknowledged CPJ’s request for comment but had yet to reply at the time of publication.