Deyda Hydara

97 results

CPJ welcomes conviction of death squad driver in murder of Gambian editor Deyda Hydara

Durban, November 30, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Thursday’s conviction in Germany of a member of former Gambian president Yahya Jammeh’s death squad for the 2004 murder of Gambian editor Deyda Hydara. “The German court’s conviction and sentencing to life imprisonment of death squad driver Bai Lowe is an important first step for the…

Read More ›

Deyda Hydara

Hydara, managing editor and co-owner of the independent newspaper The Point, as well as a correspondent for Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Reporters without Borders (RSF), was shot in the head and chest by unidentified assailants while he drove home from his office in the capital, Banjul, late at night. Two other staff members of The…

Read More ›

AFP correspondent Deyda Hydara, front, pictured in November 1999. (AFP/Seyllou)

Deyda Hydara’s daughter: ‘I am still crying’ for murdered Gambian journalist

At Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) on July 22, army officer Lieutenant Malick Jatta named former President Yahya Jammeh as the mastermind behind the murder of prominent editor Deyda Hydara on December 16 , 2004. He said Jammeh had given the direct order to assassinate Hydara, an outspoken critic who was the managing…

Read More ›

AFP correspondent Deyda Hydara, front, pictured in November 1999. In testimony to a truth commission, a Gambian army officer accused ex-President Yahya Jammeh of ordering the 2004 murder. (AFP/Seyllou)

Gambia ex-President Jammeh ordered Deyda Hydara’s murder, truth commission told

gambia_jammeh_deyda_hydara_murder_truth_commission

Read More ›

Deyda Hydara and his wife Maria circa 1989. Arrest warrants are issued for two suspects in the journalist's killing. (Hydara family)

Gambia issues arrest warrants for suspects in Deyda Hydara murder

New York, May 17, 2017–A magistrate’s court in Banjul today issued arrest warrants for two people suspected of murdering Gambian editor Deyda Hydara in 2004, according to media reports. The two suspects are not in the country, according to reports.

Read More ›

Deyda Hydara and his wife Maria circa 1989. Arrest warrants are issued for two suspects in the journalist's killing. (Hydara family)

More can be done to get justice for Deyda Hydara

In the eight years since unidentified assailants shot and killed Deyda Hydara of the Gambia, no one has been held to account. The late 2004 murder of Hydara, an immensely respected editor, columnist, and press freedom advocate known for his criticism of President Yahya Jammeh’s repressive media policies, became a rallying point for Gambian journalists…

Read More ›

Deyda Hydara and his wife Maria circa 1989. Arrest warrants are issued for two suspects in the journalist's killing. (Hydara family)

Pursuing justice for Gambia’s Deyda Hydara

December 16 will be the seventh anniversary of the killing of Deyda Hydara, the dean of Gambian journalism. It is also the 20th anniversary of the first issue of The Point, the courageously independent-minded daily that Hydara founded and directed for many years. He was murdered in a drive-by shooting as he drove himself and…

Read More ›

Deyda Hydara Trust

Deyda Hydara, a friend and colleague murdered in impunity

I can still vividly recall how the news of Deyda Hydara’s killing was relayed to me on the morning of December 17, 2004, after I returned from a trip to Zambia the previous night. Very early that morning, I called his childhood friend and partner at The Point, Pap Saine, who told me: “They shot…

Read More ›

Remembering Deyda Hydara, four years after his murder

I last saw Deyda Hydara alive on December 14, 2004, only two days before his death. To this day, the gunmen who shot dead the Gambia’s best-known journalist as he drove home from work are still at large. The crime remains unsolved.

Read More ›

Seven Gambian press leaders arrested over Hydara reaction

New York, June 16, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists called today for Gambia’s national security agency to release seven journalists it arrested on Monday. The detainees include leaders of the country’s press union and editors of newspapers that published a union press release criticizing President Yahya Jammeh’s recent comments about the unsolved 2004 murder of…

Read More ›