By Kemeseng Sanneh (Kexx)
The Banjul High Court has awarded Fifteen Million Dalasi (D15,000,000) in favour of journalist Pa Modou Bojang for being illegally detained.
Justice Sonia Akinbiyi KJW of the High Court Annex in Banjul on Monday, 16 December 2024 delivered judgment in favour of Pa Modou Bojang. The case was before Justice Amina Saho-Ceesay before her promotion to the Court of Appeal. The case has suffered a series of delays through adjournments. Pa Modou was also awarded D200,000 as legal and administrative fees.
Senior Lawyer Lamin J. Darboe represented the journalist.
Pa Modou Bojang, the Chief Executive Officer of the Home Digital FM and the host of the infamous Membekering show instituted a suit against the Gambia Police Force, the Minister of Interior and the Attorney General claiming D15,000,000 as damages he incurred from the alleged police assault on him during the Faraba Incident.
Bojang claimed the sum as damages for assault, battery, physical injuries, mental trauma, unlawful detention, pain and suffering, and public humiliation allegedly inflicted on him by personnel of the Police Intervention Unit (PIU) and the Brikama Police Station. The Faraba incident occurred sometime around mid-2018.
According to the Statement of Claim, Bojang on the day of the incident went to Faraba Banta amidst the land dispute between the community and the police. It is indicated in the claim that Bojang is a journalist. He claimed that he went to Faraba Banta via his Blue Ford Focus and while the people of the community of Faraba Banta were chasing the PIU personnel, the claimant (Bojang) was behind a mango tree. Bojang said one of the senior personnel of the police approached him demanding to know what he was doing. He added that he told the senior officer that he was a journalist and his purpose of going to Faraba Banta was to cover the incident for the purpose of public information and enlightenment about the events that were unfolding. He said after showing the PIU officers his press card, some other personnel came and ordered that he had to format his phone. Bojang said he told them that the phone has documents that he wouldn’t want to lose including his bank details.
He said it was at this juncture that the PIU personnel started slapping him on his face and he fell on the ground. Despite being on the ground, Bojang said the beating that was meted on him increased as other PIU personnel joined in the assault on him as he was still on the ground feeling helpless and offering no resistance.
He said he sustained injuries on his head, nose, and mouth/gum, back and as well received verbal assault. He indicated in the claim that he temporarily lost consciousness from the beatings by the PIU personnel. He said his Samsung mobile phone, identity card and digital recorder were all seized at the scene.
