By Kenneth Best

Ihave learned with profound shock and sadness the murder of our esteemed and great colleague, Deyda Hydara of The Point newspaper. I am extremely disappointed at this latest attack on press freedom. I call on the international community, including the world’s media organisations, to bring pressure to bear on the Gambia government to find and prosecute the perpetrators of this terrible act. Mae Gene and our entire family join me in extending our deepest condolences to the bereaved family, to all our media colleagues and to the entire Gambian people as a whole for this tragic loss. Deyda was a true patriot who loved his country so much that he was, like most journalists, prepared to make the supreme sacrifice for truth, justice, fair play, human development and progress in his beloved country.
 
May God have mercy on his soul and grant him eternal rest. May the Gambian people continue to put their faith and trust in God. May He reassure them that out of this latest assassination He will empower them with courage to persevere, holding fast to all that is good, until the day of reckoning comes, as surely come it will.

(The Point, Friday, 14 January 2005)
(Reprinted with permission)