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| - The Gambia's detention of journalists and its banning of two radio stations recall the "brutal" rule of the West African state's former dictator, the country's press union and Amnesty International said Monday. Following weeks of tension, demonstrations demanding the departure of President Adama Barrow in the capital Banjul turned violent on Sunday, prompting the government to ban the movement behind them. The government also targeted media in its crackdown on the protesters, however. Armed police stormed two radio stations in the tiny former British colony on Sunday afternoon and took them off the air, The Gambia's press union said in a statement, adding four journalists were also detained. Protesters also physically assaulted one journalist covering the hundreds-strong demonstration, it said. AFP was unable to independently confirm the journalist detentions. The government said it arrested 137 people on Sunday. "The past 24 hours witnessed the most aggressive attack on press freedom since the new government assumed office in 2017," the press union said on Monday. "Yesterday's attacks bring to memory twenty years of the brutal repression of the media," it continued. Yahya Jammeh, the former autocrat, ruled Gambia with an iron fist but fled in January 2017 after losing a presidential election to relative unknown Adama Barrow. His regime was marked by numerous human rights abuses, including the killing of AFP correspondent Deyda Hydara, who was gunned down by pro-regime henchmen in 2004. NGO Amnesty International said in a statement on Monday that Sunday's mass arrests were "fuelling tension" and added that the episode "had alarming echoes of Gambia's brutal past". Radio stations King FM and Home Digital FM were shut by the government on Sunday on accusations of "peddling incendiary messages" and "inciting violence". But the press union said the move was "arbitrary and unlawful," pointing out that King FM broadcast only music on Sunday, while saying there was "nothing incendiary" about Home Digital FM's coverage of the protests. Both the press union and Amnesty International called on the government to lift the radio-station bans and to release detained journalists. "Any attack on media freedom should end," Amnesty International said. In a statement on Sunday, the government announced it banned the "Three Years Jotna," the movement calling for Barrow to step down, calling it "a subversive, violent and an illegal movement". The word 'jotna' means 'enough' in the Wolof language. The protest movement has its roots in a broken coalition pledge by the president, who promised to step down after three years in power. Barrow has since said he will serve a full-five year presidential term. Thousands of people have protested on several occasions over the past months calling on real-estate-developer-turned-president Barrow to honour his initial promise and step down. There have also been protests urging the return of former autocrat Jammeh. eb/eml/lc
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