Musa Saidykhan (Editor, The Gambia)

Musa Saidykhan was among scores of journalists who were arrested and illegally detained by Gambian President Yahya Jammeh's security agents, the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), in the aftermath of an alleged coup attempt in March 2006.

Saidykhan, the editor-in-chief for the banned paper The Independent, was arrested upon his return from a human rights forum in South Africa on 27 March 2006. He was held incommunicado for 22 days without charge, and tortured, even electrocuted, until he lost consciousness. His assailants said it was because he published a list of the alleged coup plotters.

"I was told by my torturers that electric shocks on my genitals were meant to make me impotent," recalled Saidykhan.

Following his release, delayed for months due to wounds sustained in custody that the "NIA didn't want people to see," Saidykhan joined the growing number of Gambians who fled the country under President Jammeh's rule. He currently resides in the U.S. Marks of torture are still visible on his body.

In 2010, with the help of the Media Foundation for West Africa, Saidykhan took his case to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court, where he successfully sued the Gambian government for his illegal detention and torture. But to this day, the Gambian government has refused to comply with the court's decision and compensate Saidykhan US$200,000.

Stand with Musa Saidykhan and defend free expression.

A special thank you to Media Foundation for West Africa for contributing to this action.

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