*Gambia Government Charged Former Presidential Press Director Fatou Camara With “Supplying False Information To An American Journalist To Tarnish President’s Image.”
She only knew about her fate in court on Thursday morning after languishing in NIA custody for close to two weeks without having access to lawyer and her family. State prosecutors have finally charged the dismissed GRTS television celebrity Fatou Camara. Ms. Camara has been charged with sedition. She has been accused of spreading false news by allegedly passing information to the Editor of the Freedom Newspaper Pa Nderry M’Bai “with intent to tarnish the image of the President Yahya Jammeh.” Mr. M’Bai is an American journalist based in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The prosecution’s charge sheet against Fatou Camara also alleges that while Ms. Camara was employed by the Gambia Government in the capacity of Director of Press and Public Relations at the State House, she allegedly “spread false information through the Internet” by supplying information to the Freedom Editor Mr. M’Bai to discredit the image of the President Yahya Jammeh.
Ms. Camara, appearing before the dock, has vehemently rejected the charges. She said she has never supplied any information pertaining to the President to the Freedom Newspaper, or its Editor Pa Nderry M’Bai.
Ms. Camara appeared very weak when she showed up in court on Thursday. She has lost weight overtime. She was visibly focused while taking her plea—smiling here and there; while scanning the courtroom through eye contact with the crowd. She was ordered by the court to post a bail before she would be released from custody. She was also made to present a title deed of a landed property worth five million dalasi, including her travelling documents, which she fulfilled.
Meanwhile, Fatou Camara has been released on bail. She is now at home. She is expected to appear in court on October 28.
Under the new Internet law passed by the Gambia government, Fatou Camara risked facing 15 years jail term if convicted. The law also recommends for an exorbitant court fine in the tune of three million dalasi if convicted.
NIA sources said Manyima Bojang of Nyimasi B Youth Promotion reported Fatou Camara to the President. She told Jammeh that Fatou Camara has been passing state secrets to the Freedom Newspaper Editor. This came in the wake of the exposure of a spy ring coordinated by Ms. Bojang by the Freedom Newspaper.
The Potters News 