The Gambia Press Union (GPU) welcomes the scrapping of anti-freedom of expression laws in Sierra Leone, calling on The Gambia Government to follow suit.
On July 23, 2020, the Parliament of Sierra Leone voted unanimously to repeal criminal libel and sedition provisions in Part Five of that country’s Public Order Act.
The Gambia now remains the only English-speaking West African country that maintains these anti-speech laws inherited from colonial subjugation.
The GPU President Sheriff Bojang Jr. said: “Our country cannot afford to be left behind in the wave of democratisation process being witnessed in West Africa. Democratisation must begin with de-criminalisation of speech so that people will enjoy freedom of expression, which is the oxygen of democracy.”
The GPU is aware that the Criminal Offences Bill, 2020, which has gone through first and second reading at the National Assembly, will repeal sedition and criminal libel. The Bill however maintains the criminalisation of false news.
The GPU therefore calls on the National Assembly to thoroughly but speedily scrutinise the said Bill and in particular remove false news provisions.
It is important to note that Ecowas Court of Justice had ruled that the Gambia’s laws on sedition, false news and libel are undemocratic and at variance with international standards and urged the government to repeal them.