Speaking to The Standard at their family home in Brikama Jamissa on Saturday morning, Abbas Hydara explained: “Since this incident happened we have not spoken to the media nor did we allow the old man to make any comments. The interview with my father published on Friday 7th August of your newspaper [The Standard] which quoted him as saying he saw his arrest as God-ordained is not to our knowledge and consequently we disassociate the family from it. All we want to clarify for public knowledge is that the statements attributed to my father by your reporter are wrong because he at no time interviewed my father.”
But reacting to the comments, The Standard reporter Ousman Bojang said he stood by his story: “Contrary to what his son is saying, I interviewed Caliph Muhideen Hydara in the mosque at Yundum Police Station on Wednesday 6th August 2014. This was after the 2’o clock prayers in the presence of other people who were coming to seek blessings from him. My report is accurate and representative of the views expressed by him in the interview.”
Reacting to the matter, the managing director of The Standard, Sheriff Bojang, said the matter will be “editorially investigated” and the necessary action taken. “Sheriff Muhideen’s family are right royal pissed about the story but the reporter is adamant that his report is a faithful representation of the statements of the venerable sheikh. Once we establish the facts, we will take the appropriate action.”
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