Re-post: FALSE NEWS IS A LAW IN THE GAMBIA

Previously published 5/11/ 2018: FALSE NEWS IS A LAW IN THE GAMBIA.
“No Man Is Above the law And No Man is Below It…”
‘Criticism of the President or ‘Insulting the President’
– Supreme Court Approved Constitutional.
by Alagi Yorro Jallow.
The Supreme Court’s landmark decision regarding judicial review on Sedition and False news law in The Gambia has been unanimously and unequivocally validated. A colonial-era law effectively ‘criminalizing criticism of the President or ‘insulting the President’ as Constitutional. This ruling is retrogressive, backward, unworthy, and primitive forces that seek to hold us back and imprison our freedom to hold those in power accountable for their actions.
The Gambia Press Union takes on the Gambia government over the unconstitutionality of false news and false publication in the country’s statute book, challenging the constitutionality of sedition, criminal defamation, false news, and libel at the Supreme Court. State counsel representing Attorney General and Minister of Justice Abubacarr Tambadou lawyer Binga D, said it conceded on the unconstitutionality of libel, criminal defamation, and sedition but maintained false news places “reasonable restriction necessary in a democracy.” State counsel Binga argued that “The freedom of speech is subjected to reasonable restrictions as may be necessary for a democratic society,” He told the Supreme Court panel of judges that “the nature of false news is such that it can pose a threat to national security and public interest.”The lawyer representing Baa Tambadou finally submitted that the particular section 181 (1) (a) of the Criminal Code is not unconstitutional, as suggested by the plaintiff’s lawyer.
The Gambia Press Union lawyer, Hawa Sisay Sabally, said the laws in question are “conditions that criminalized speech, and as such, they are void.” Barrister Sisay Sabally said the laws were made more than authority, and they are not constitutional and therefore do not deserve to be in the country’s laws. A criminal code or penal code provisions on sedition contravened the right to freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution. Sedition is where a person utters or publishes statements aimed at bringing hatred, contempt or disaffection against the President, the government, or the judiciary. The sections on sedition are inconsistent with the Constitution and are therefore null and void. Hawa Sisay Sabally argued.
The lawsuit was first filed in 2015 by Gambia Press Union, but it could not proceed because the former autocratic ruler Yahya Jammeh refused to appoint judges. The laws in question include communication act 2015, a law that is considered Gambia’s most draconian media law.
Sovereign people should not make Presidents as a demi-god. There are no special laws for the President. “No man is above the law, and no man is below it; nor do we ask any man’s permission when we require him to obey it. Obedience to the law is demanded as a right; not asked as a favor.” Theodore Roosevelt. Every citizen is equal before the law unless otherwise.
A law granting special protection against defamation or insult of public officials is an anachronism that cannot be justified in a modern democracy. It is now well established under international law that such officials should tolerate more, rather than less, criticism than ordinary citizens. Laws granting them higher protection must be abolished.
Protecting Presidents or public officials from criticism solely because of their function or status cannot be reconciled with modern democracy and violates both international conventions on freedom of expression standards.
By criminalizing ‘insulting the President’ will threaten even newspaper cartoonists for their satirical artwork. Every civilized society’s Constitution guarantees freedom of expression, which includes criticizing the President.
For every intent and purpose, these “insult” laws have become moribund worldwide and represent the old-school of thought – that a King cannot err! That the crown is infallible!
African governments need to abolish all anachronistic provisions of freedom of expression and speech laws and bring its legislation in compliance with international freedom of expression standards.
Through the legal process, these laws such as the one on false news and that of sedition have been adequately validated by the Gambian Constitutional Court as constitutional, but that has only given the government more room to be more punitive towards the public and journalists who are independent, free and critical to the President and the government.
Americans take extraordinary pride in freedom of speech, individual liberty, ideologies, religions and (especially) the government is all fair game for criticism, thanks to the First Amendment of the Constitution, which states that Congress shall make no law “abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Freedom of speech and expression is by no means universal today in the Gambia. There are instances where speaking your mind will land you in jail or worse.
Sadly, America was once among these nations like the Gambia today. On July 14, 1798, President John Adams signed into law the Sedition Act, effectively criminalizing the government’s criticism. While the law is clearly in direct violation of the First Amendment, the judicial review practice, whereby the Supreme Court strikes down unconstitutional laws, had not yet been established. The law was the subject of enormous controversy in its day, and its unpopularity helped oust from power the Federalists. They had passed the egregious legislation to protect themselves from criticism.
Sedition, defined as incitement to violence or disorder, is a legislation meant to suppress the Gambian people’s voice and has no place in a 21st-century democracy. The Supreme Court, being the protector of the citizens’ fundamental rights, needs to declare the law unconstitutional the law of sedition. The Supreme Court itself did not apply these principles to speech and freedom of expression.
Sedition is an archaic law meant to suppress the voice of the Gambian people. That is why the Gambian law on sedition different from the English law. Despite the strict construction adopted by the Gambia government, law enforcement agencies have always used it against journalists, religious leaders, intellectuals, etc. for criticizing the President, the government, and the judiciary. Of the dictator’s government, Yahya Jammeh and the free government of Adama Barrow continue to use it for the very purpose for which the colonial government used it.