A file photo taken on November 22, 2011 shows Gambian President Yahya Jammeh greets supporters during a rally in Gambia. Credit: AFP.
Banjul, Gambia: A photojournalist arrested on Thursday for snapping a crowd of ruling party supporters in Gambia was still being held at the weekend, a security source told AFP.
Alagie Manka was detained on the outskirts of the capital Banjul for taking pictures of President Yahya Jammeh supporters with a smartphone, a family member told AFP.
"Alagie Manka was Thursday afternoon arrested by soldiers who found him snapping a crowd of ruling party supporters that returned from nominating President Yahya Jammeh for the presidential election," a National Intelligence Agency (NIA) source told AFP Saturday on condition of anonymity.
The arresting soldiers transferred Manka to the NIA headquarters in Banjul for questioning.
"We are currently interrogating and screening him. He is not being maltreated by the agents," added the NIA source.
Manka is a freelance photojournalist and documentary filmmaker. His family members told AFP they had not seen him since Thursday.
A relative told AFP that Manka was arrested around a kilometre from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) headquarters, where Jammeh had submitted his candidature for the December 1 presidential election, for taking a picture on a smartphone and failing to produce an accreditation pass.
On Thursday, journalists accredited by the Electoral Commission had been warned by a military captain before Jammeh's arrival that they could use cameras but not smartphones to take pictures.
Journalist Yunus Salieu, of the pro-government Daily Observer newspaper, was arrested on Thursday for snapping the president's supporters with his mobile phone, but was released on Friday evening, according to colleagues.
A Daily Observer insider told AFP: "Yunus Salieu has been released by the NIA. He said he was not maltreated by the NIA.
"He was released following the intervention of the NIA High Command. He will report to work on Monday."
Jammeh, 51, took power in a bloodless military coup in 1994 and has run the country with an iron fist ever since. He is seeking a fifth term of office.
His regime is regularly accused by rights groups of arranging the forcible disappearance of opponents.
In a report released on November 2, Human Rights Watch said that intimidation of opposition parties, media repression and politicised security forces have "all but extinguished" any chance of a free and fair election in Gambia.
