_MG_7320
(LEFT) Madi M.K Ceesay, National Assembly Member and veteran journalist at his office in Bakoteh. Madi, a former manager of The Independent newspaper was arrested in 2006, beaten and incarcerated at Mile 2 prison without charge by Gambia’s National Intelligence Agency.
Madi said “Life for journalists under the Jammeh regime was a living hell…we lived under fear…we were terrified. It was a very hostile environment. We were subjected to all kinds of humiliations, maltreatments, tortures, and stress.”
In July 2016, tragically, his son, Ebrima Janko Ceesay, also a journalist, died at home after he had been arrested and brutalised at Mile 2 prison after covering peaceful protests.
(RIGHT) High-security wing at Mile 2 prison, referred to as his ‘5 Star Hotel’ by former Gambian president Jammeh. During the Truth Reconciliation and Reparations hearings, Gambians learned of the hundreds of human rights violations, tortures, murders and rapes that occurred there under the 22-year Jammeh rule.