The Napoleonic syndrome of President Jammeh expressed through his recent withdrawal from the British Commonwealth conceals his gross human rights violations, executions of political dissidents and homophobic pronoucements – rather than any principled opposition against neo-colonialism

Whilst The Gambia remains a member of the Commonwealth that affirms freedom of expression as one of its core values, the government of President Yahya Jammeh has been clamping down on newspapers and journalists with zeal

Pansy Tlakula, the African Union’s Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information, has done her best to address the continued harassment of journalists in the Gambia. In her role as commissioner of the African Commission on Human Peoples’ Rights, she has appealed many times to the government of the West African nation to respect people’s right to freedom of expression. But it has not been enough to prevent the Gambian government’s crackdown on the media.

Gambian authorities have dropped charges of conspiracy and incitement to violence against two journalists who were arrested on 10 September, the country's press union said. Baboucarr Ceesay, vice president of the Gambia Press Union and Abubacarr Saidykhan, a freelance journalist, were arrested and held for nearly four days after seeking permission to hold a peaceful protest against the recent execution of nine death row prisoners.