The Community Court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Abuja, Nigeria, will today, September 26, 2007 resume hearing of the case against the Gambia government over the “disappearance” of Chief Ebrima Manneh, a reporter for the “Daily Observer,” a Banjul-based pro-government newspaper.

Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) instituted legal action at the Community Court demanding an order to compel the government of President Yahya Jammeh to immediately release Manneh.

At the last hearing on July 16, 2007, the government failed to make either an appearance or offer any explanation. The Community Court therefore adjourned the case to enable it duly serve the Gambia government for the second time. The court confirmed that the Gambia government was duly served with the hearing notice through its High Commission in Abuja, Nigeria.

The three-man panel of judges refused an oral application by counsel for Manneh, Nigerian human rights lawyer Femi Falana, for the court to permit him to visit his client.

Mr. Manneh “disappeared” a week after the July 2006 African Union (AU) Heads of State Summit in Banjul. Colleagues of Manneh witnessed his arrest by two plainclothes officers of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) at the premises of the “Daily Observer.”

Since then his whereabouts have remained unknown, with the Gambian security agencies and police claiming they do not know where he is.

Media Foundation for West Africa.