Pap Saine

Pap Saine is a Gambian editor and publisher of the English-language independent newspaper, The Point. In 2010, the International Press Institute named him a World Press Freedom Hero for his work.

Work with The Point On 16 December 1991, Pap Saine co-founded The Point along with Deyda Hydara and Babucarr Gaye; Hydara and Saine had been friends since childhood. Gaye resigned four months later, and Hydara and Saine ran the paper together for the next decade. Saine also worked as a Reuters correspondent for West Africa. The following year, he was posthumously awarded the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award.

Following Hydara's death, Saine continued to edit The Point, making it a daily in 2006. One week later, following another report on Gambia's US Embassy, Saine was arrested again, interrogated at length, and given a second charge of "publishing and spreading false information". Reporters Without Borders described the investigation of Saine as "hounding" and called on Kamalesh Sharma, the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, to intervene.

On 9 April, the charges of "publishing and spreading false information" were formally dropped.

Hydara murder controversy and defamation trial In November 2008, the International Press Institute began a "Justice Denied" campaign pressing for investigations into violence against journalists in the Gambia, particularly the still-unsolved murder of Deyda Haydara. At a June 2009 press conference, Gambian President Yahya Jammeh disparaged questions about the Hydara investigation, saying "And up to now one of these stupid Web sites carries 'Who Killed Deyda Hydara'? Let them go and ask Deyda Hydara who killed him." The statement ran in The Point and a weekly newspaper, Foroyaa, on 11 June. Jabbi-Dibba (the only woman) was held in Mile 2 prison, while Saine, Sawaneh, Faal, Saar, and Touray were held in Old Jeshwang prison. On 8 August, Jabbi-Dibba's seven-month-old baby was taken away. The Committee to Protect Journalists also campaigned for Saine's release, the International Federation for Human Rights, International PEN, the PEN American Center, and Front Line Defenders. Jammeh continued to denounce the journalists, however, making a state television appearance to say "So they think they can hide behind so-called press freedom and violate the law and get away with it? They got it wrong this time ... We are going to prosecute them to the letter." However, Jammeh pardoned them in September, following a campaign of "domestic and international pressure". The award is named for a bookseller executed by Napoleon, and recognizes individuals who are "of outstanding prominence in the promotion of freedom of opinion and the press".

In 2010, Saine was named a World Press Freedom Hero by the International Press Institute. He is the third West African to have won the title, following Kenneth Best (Liberia) and Freedom Neruda (Côte d'Ivoire). Saine described the award as a morale-booster and "an inspiration for journalists who are fighting for freedom of the press and the interests of justice, democracy and human rights not only in the Gambia but in all of Africa".