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| - Four journalists detained during anti-government protests in The Gambia over the weekend have been released on bail, the police said Tuesday, in an affair that sparked outrage from rights groups. Authorities cracked down on Sunday's protests seeking the departure of President Adama Barrow, arresting a total of 137 people. Armed police also stormed two radio stations in the tiny West African country and took them off the air. The Gambia's press union and NGO Amnesty International said in separate statements that the crackdown was reminiscent of repression under former autocrat Yahya Jammeh. However, Lamin Njie, a police spokesman, told AFP that most of those who were arrested on Sunday had been released on bail. "This includes four journalists who were arrested by the police," he said. Barrow is under increasing pressure over a broken pledge to step down after three years in office. He now plans to serve a full five-year term. Protests organised by the "Three Years Jotna" (Three Years Enough) movement, which is calling on the president to honour that promise, turned violent on Sunday. The government banned the protest movement the same day, calling it violent and subversive. In a statement, it warned that promoting the agenda of "Three Years Jotna" would entail "severe consequences". Radio stations King FM and Home Digital FM were shut down Sunday on accusations of "peddling incendiary messages" and "inciting violence". Police also arrested the owner of Home Digital FM, Pa Modou Bojang, and King FM's manager, Gibbi Jallow, in the raids. Jallow told AFP that he had been charged with inciting violence. "They are not happy with us because we have been providing (a) platform to the "Three Years Jotna Movement," he said. However, he added that his radio station had also broadcast competing political views. It is not clear whether the other journalists have been charged. Gambia's press union said there was nothing incendiary about either Home Digital FM's or King FM's broadcasts, and called the government ban "arbitrary and unlawful". The union and international rights watchdog Amnesty International compared the episode to The Gambia's autocratic past. Yahya Jammeh ruled The Gambia with an iron fist but fled in January 2017 after losing a presidential election to Barrow, a relative unknown. His regime was marked by numerous rights abuses, including the killing of AFP correspondent Deyda Hydara, who was gunned down by pro-regime henchmen in 2004. et/eml/klm
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