The Gambia has been ordered to pay four journalists a total of six million dalasis (£94,000; $127,000) for breaching their human rights.
The four journalists should receive either one or two million each, West African regional group Ecowas ruled.
The plaintiffs launched their case in 2015, when The Gambia was still under Yahya Jammeh’s rule – a period which was marked by little respect for human rights or freedom of speech.
They said they had been arbitrarily arrested, harassed and later detained them under inhuman conditions, according to an Ecowas release.
Eventually, three of the four went into exile because they feared “persecution… as a consequence of their work as journalists”.
The Gambia must also amend or repeal the laws it used to jail three of the complainants, the three member panel said.