The Gambian government banned an activist group, made mass arrests and shut down two radio stations in the most severe crackdown on dissent since President Adama Barrow took office three years ago.
Police arrested 137 members of the ‘Three Years is Enough' movement at a protest Sunday in a town about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) north of the capital, Banjul. The group was calling for Barrow to step down this year in line with a deal he struck with coalition parties that helped end his predecessor's 22-year-rule. The government also detained journalists covering the protest.
The group is now considered “a subversive, violent and illegal movement,” government spokesman Ebrima Sankareh said in a statement. It is banned “from ever operating within the shores of The Gambia.”
Barrow, 54, defeated former dictator Yahya Jammeh in December 2016 with the support of seven political parties that had rallied behind him to bring down the former leader's repressive regime. He took office in January 2017 after a regional armed intervention forced Jammeh to step down. Barrow is expected to run for re-election in 2021 despite his promise to coalition partners.
Protesters were arrested “for simply exercising their rights,” an executive member of the movement, Sheriffo Sonko, said by phone. He said his organization had planned a peaceful protest.
To contact the reporter on this story: Modou Joof in Johannesburg at mjoof@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andre Janse van Vuuren at ajansevanvuu@bloomberg.net, Yinka Ibukun, Paul Richardson
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