Moreover,he championed the rights of journalists and fought tirelessly for freedom of expression and his sacrifice reminds critical role of a free press in building just a democratic society.
[3] Hydara was an advocate of press freedom and a fierce critic of the government of then President Yahya Jammeh, who was openly hostile to Gambian journalists and the media.
Hydara announced his intent to challenge these laws, but on December 16, was assassinated by an unknown gunman while driving home from work in Banjul.
[4] His murder remains unsolved, although in May 2017 (after Adama Barrow replaced Yahya Jammeh as President), arrest warrants were issued for two army officers as suspects.
[20] 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?
[3] In June 2014, a decade after his assassination, the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice found the Gambian government liable for failing to diligently investigate Deyda Hydara’s murder.
[22] The Nigerian law firm, Aluko & Oyebode, represented the family of Deyda Hydara and the Africa Regional Office of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ-Africa) in the lawsuit against the Gambian government.