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(LEFT) Mamadi B. Camara at his home in Bundum. Mamadi was working as a journalist for The Independent newspaper in 2006 when six masked paramilitaries attacked the printing house. Mamadi and his colleagues were assaulted and held at gunpoint, and the printing press was set on fire. In the ensuing inferno, Mamadi and his colleagues narrowly escaped, and one of the gunmen dropped his pistol. During the 22-year regime of former Gambian president, Yahya Jammeh, multiple media houses and radio stations were shut down, and a number were subjected to arson attacks. The Gambian press was a constant target during the Jammeh regime, with enforced disappearances, intimidation and assassinations. Many journalists went into exile in neighbouring Senegal due to the climate of fear and intimidation.
(RIGHT) Frontpage of The Independent newspaper after the journalists refused to be intimated after their printing press was firebombed by former Gambian president, Yahya Jammeh’s hit squad.