BANJUL, Gambia (BP)--A British missionary couple in Gambia have been sentenced to a year in prison at hard labor for sending e-mails critical of Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh.
David Fulton, 60, and his wife, Fiona, 47, pled guilty to the charges after their arrest in late November because their lawyer told them it might result in a lighter sentence, but a judge gave them the maximum sentence, saying he intended to send a message to those who "spread hatred against the government." In addition to the prison sentences, the couple was fined the equivalent of about $9,500 each.
The couple apparently sent e-mails to friends and church contacts in Britain that not only discussed their ministry but also described the state of affairs in Gambia and called Jammeh "a madman," according to a report by The Times newspaper of London. A Gambian person in England connected to the Fulton's home church sent...