Gambian Gov’t Says Amadou Samba Was Never Investigated

Freedom Newspaper Extends Unreserved Apologies To Mr. Samba And Affected Parties

Minister Ousman Sonko’s Document Link:

http://www.box.net/shared/gt31d13x4g    

Our attention has been brought to our recent story captioned “Breaking News: Gambia: OB Conateh And Amadou Samba Named In A One Billion Dollar Cocaine Bust!!!”  The report contained some factual errors, according to concerned parties who reached the Freedom Newspaper. In that, Mr. Samba was not among the businessmen being investigated in connection with the cocaine bust. Just for the records, our report was premised based on information we earlier received from sources in The Gambia. Access to official information is a major problem in The Gambia—in view of the Government’s hostile relationship with the private press. There is no free flow of information in The Gambia. Reporters relied on sources to authenticate stories. We went as far as trying to reach Mr. Samba for his own side of the story, but he was indisposed for comments.

Notwithstanding, we craved on Mr. Samba’s indulgence to accept our unreserved apologies. We have no intention to defame, slander, or libel Mr. Samba—a person with a resounding business success story over the years, a fine gentleman, known for his patriotism, and devotion to nation building.   We deeply regret for any inconvenience caused as a result of the said publication against Mr. Samba, or any affected party in that regard. We have nothing to gain by reporting the said story. Ours is to seek for the truth, and nothing but the truth.

Our Editor Pa Nderry M’Bai worked for Mr. Samba’s own newspaper, the Daily Observer over the years, until his departure from the Observer. Mr. M’Bai had a good working relationship with Mr. Samba, and could vividly remember Mr. Samba hailing Mr. M’Bai for his journalistic qualities, and professionalism along the corridors of the Daily Observer, when he ( Mr. Samba) bought the Observer from Mr. Kenneth Y Best, a Liberian exiled journalist, who was residing in The Gambia, prior to his deportation by the Jammeh administration. Mr. Samba was at the paper to familiarize himself  with the local staff, and also to introduce his new Managing Director Sariang Ceesay to the staffers.   

We harbored no grudges against Mr. Samba, a man we admired for his entrepreneurship, honesty, and uprightness. We published the said report in good faith, without malice, or prejudice.

That said, it is imperative to note that our publication triggered the Interior Minister Ousman Sonko, and the Deputy Director of the National Drug Enforcement Agency Khalilu Njie to write attestation letters on behalf of Amadou Samba to a British banking firm to clear Mr. Samba’s name from the  purported investigations. Both Mr. Sonko and Njie denied the Freedom Newspaper story and assured the British firm HSBC Bank PLC that Mr. Samba was never arrested, or investigated on any drug related charges. Minister Sonko, and Mr. Njie’s Document link could be accessed by clicking below:  http://www.box.net/shared/gt31d13x4g   

The Freedom Newspaper never inferred in its reportage that Mr. Samba was neither arrested, nor detained. All what we reported was that he was being investigated. To err is human, and we humbly apologize for our account of events in relation to the cocaine bust, which landed a good number of people arrested in The Gambia.  

On that note, we want to thank the concerned parties for drawing our attention to the misreporting.  It is in line with our editorial guidelines and principles to report accurate, balanced, reliable, and objective news here at Freedom. We attaches great importance on accurate reporting. We endeavor to jealously safeguard our credibility. 

By this retraction, we have decided to take the story from the site. We also called on The Gambian authorities to open its doors to the independent media to avoid incidences of such nature. This would save them from writing attestation letters to dispel any possible inaccurate reporting.  We expect the Government of The Gambia to be accountable to the press, including Gambian taxpayers. It is not in the interest of any journalist to report inaccurate stories because credibility matters in this news industry.

The cocaine case is a big story, and as a reputable media organization, we deem it crucially imperative to keep our esteemed readers posted with developments. That’s why we assigned our reporters on the ground to keenly follow the story as it unfolds.  We cared for the image of our country, including Mr. Amadou Samba, who we have been accused of defaming. We are not in the business of defaming, or slandering people.

Meanwhile, we reproduced a letter from Jeremy Jones, Director of Jones Agency, who threatened to sue the Freedom Newspaper, if the paper fails to apologize to Amadou Samba.  Even though, Mr. Jones had warned us not to publish his letter, including that of the communications issued by Interior Minister Ousman Sonko, and NDEA’S Khalilu Njie, we ignored the threats to reproduce the communications for the sake of posterity. We are not conducting any illegal business here at Freedom, and therefore we reproduced the communications for the sake of public interest. Thanks for your attention.

……………………………………..

Dear Editor Mbye:

Please be advised that we write in representation of Mr. Amadou Samba to investigate and take legal action against you for the series of unwarranted and defamatory attacks against Mr. Samba on your online newspaper: Freedom Newspaper. The most recent being the scandalous and defamatory online posting about (Breaking News: Gambia: OB Conateh And Amadou Samba Named In A One Billion Dollar Cocaine Bust!!!).

Mr. Amadou Samba has had a distinguished international business career for over 30 years and has never been investigated or charged with any illegal business activities in Gambia or abroad. He is a patriotic Gambian citizen who has never been arrested or subject to any legal investigation in Gambia or internationally. Mr. Samba has established a well founded reputation for his diverse and legitimate international business activities and your unwarranted actions and baseless accusations could damage that reputation and adversely affect Mr. Samba’s business.

As highlighted the article posted on Freedom Newspaper on July 24, 2010 inferring Mr. Samba is under investigation and implicated in the drug scandal is utterly false and without merit. I have attached supplementary letters from the authorities in The Gambia confirming Mr. Samba’s innocence. Hence, these accusations are defamation per se in that they depict Mr. Samba as engaging in fraudulent activity that violates criminal and civil law.

Your attempts to spread libelous and defamatory material about Mr. Samba could cause serious and irreparable injury to his reputation and business. Our client will not stand by and allow this misconduct to continue.

 We hereby demand that you:

 Immediately remove from all the defamatory and disparaging remarks regarding Mr. Samba made by you and your writers and accompanied by an editorial in which you specifically repudiated your libelous statements.

 Immediately cease and desist in publishing defamatory statements about Mr. Samba, whether the statements are made by you or third parties on your website.

Please note that Mr. Samba does not attempt to restrict legitimate free speech and believes that the Internet is an important medium for dissemination of accurate and truthful information and for fair comment on issues of interest. Your activities, however, unlawfully encroach upon our clients rights.

The letter puts you on notice, should you refuse to comply with our demand by Friday, July 30, 2010, we will have no choice but to recommend Mr. Samba pursue all legal causes of action, including the filing of a lawsuit, to protect his interests. We will recommend he pursue both damages and attorney’s fees and costs incurred as a result of your actions.

This is a very serious matter that requires your immediate attention. This letter is your one and only chance to resolve this matter amicably. Please be aware you are not authorized to republish this letter, and use of this letter or attachments in full or in part, will subject you to further legal causes of action. Link to the attachments:  http://www.box.net/shared/gt31d13x4g   

Sincerely yours,

Jeremy Jones

Director

Jones Agency

……………………………………………………………………..