Gambian Police Detain Journalist Documenting COVID-19 Protests

On June 21, 2020, officers of Gambia’s anti-crime police unit detained Ebou N. Keita, an editor and camera operator with the privately owned Gambian Talents Television broadcaster, for photographing police arresting people protesting the country’s COVID-19 restrictions.

Keita told CPJ he was on his way to work in Kombo Central, a district in the west of the country, when he saw police arresting drivers who were protesting restrictions on their work as part of the country’s pandemic lockdown. He said he took photos and video of the arrests because he believed it would be a good news story.

A police officer asked Keita to stop reporting and to leave the area; as he was leaving, another officer stopped him, took his phone, tied his hands with an elastic cord, and took him to a police station in Abuko, a nearby town, he said.

Keita told CPJ that his hands were bruised by the elastic, but added that the pain has since subsided. The police officers also took Keita’s identification card and threw it in his face, Joof told CPJ.

After several hours in detention, police officers returned Keita’s phone and he called his colleagues for help, Joof told CPJ. Fatou Samba, the country director of Gambia Talents Television, soon arrived at the station with another journalist, Isatou Jallow, to help secure Keita’s release and report on his arrest, Joof told CPJ.