Media & Journalism
Peerless
Deyda Hydara
1946 – 2004
Shot dead for his journalism, on the thirteenth anniversary of the paper he founded
Peerless is level 1 of 4 in the The Gambia Hall of Fame: changed the field itself. Tell the country's story without them and the story breaks. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
Two days before he was killed he wrote that he would fight the Media Commission Act. Gunmen shot him from a passing car. Fifteen years later a soldier told the truth commission that Yahya Jammeh had given the order.
Deyda Hydara was born on 9 June 1946, began as a radio presenter on Radio Syd, and became a correspondent for Agence France-Presse and for Reporters Without Borders.
He co-founded The Point newspaper and edited it, and founded and led the Gambian Press Union. In his last article, two days before his death, he declared he would challenge the Media Commission Act. On the night of 16 December 2004 — the thirteenth anniversary of The Point — he was shot dead from a passing car as he drove home from work. In July 2019 Lieutenant Malick Jatta, formerly of Yahya Jammeh's hit squad, testified to the Gambia's Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission that he had taken part in the killing and that the order came from the president. Hydara remains the Gambia's enduring symbol of press freedom.
He co-founded The Point newspaper and edited it, and founded and led the Gambian Press Union. In his last article, two days before his death, he declared he would challenge the Media Commission Act. On the night of 16 December 2004 — the thirteenth anniversary of The Point — he was shot dead from a passing car as he drove home from work. In July 2019 Lieutenant Malick Jatta, formerly of Yahya Jammeh's hit squad, testified to the Gambia's Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission that he had taken part in the killing and that the order came from the president. Hydara remains the Gambia's enduring symbol of press freedom.
- Wikipedia — Deyda Hydara
- Al Jazeera — Gambian soldier names ex-president in reporter's 2004 murder
- Reporters Without Borders — Deyda Hydara: the murder of a journalist under surveillance
Spotted something wrong? Tell us and we will check it.