The Gambia Press Union (GPU) notes with concerns the arrest of the Editor of Jollof News Online, Momodou Justice Darboe, on Wednesday at the Banjul Magistrates Court.
Darboe was on a routine coverage of the trial of two Austrian nationals, Manuel Di Stofleth Mitterer and Angelika Mitterer, who are being tried on charges of “disobedience to lawful orders” over allegations that in July 2025 “the couple refused to comply with a court directive requiring them to provide investigators access to their cryptocurrency accounts and related digital assets.”
On 11 March, 2026, after the court session, Darboe took a photo of the accused persons while they were leaving the courtroom.
He told the GPU that he was assaulted by the police. “I was attacked from behind for taking a photo of the suspects outside the courtroom,” Darboe told GPU. “My phone was wrenched from my hand by the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Prosecutions, Abdoulie Sanneh.”
Following the incident, Darboe said he was arrested and detained at the Police Headquarters in Banjul from around 1pm to 7pm before he was granted self-bail. He was also charged with “common assault”, a charge the Police spokesperson confirmed to GPU, was brought against him for “assaulting a police officer”.
Darboe has denied the charge of common assault, which carries up to a one-year prison term under The Gambia’s penal code. He told the GPU he could not have assaulted the officer “while they were behind me, and as I was attacked from behind.”
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