Gambia News: Chief Ebrima Manneh’s Father Speaks

By Lamin Sanyang
The father of  Chief Ebrima Manneh, a Gambian journalist whose whereabouts remain unknown ever since his mysterious disappearance five years ago spoke to this paper about the recent comments of the Justice Minister about his son that has been published by the Newspapers in the country and  captured in the Online Newspapers.
The family of Chief Ebrima Manneh was met and the comments made by the Justice Minister were related to them. They were surprised by the comments. They were asked whether they are in touch with the Justice Minister.
“I don’t even know the Justice Minister and have never seen a delegation from him,’ said Chief Manneh’s father, Sarjo Manneh.
The old man has lamented the hardship and pain he underwent in search of his son for the past five years. He questioned the possibility of a person disappearing in a small country like ours and cannot be traced for five years. He said he had gone the length and breadth of the country looking for his son.
“If the government said they have no hand in my son’s disappearance then why can’t they send a delegation to clear their name to us?” asked the old man.
He told this reporter that since the disappearance of Ebrima Chief Manneh in 2006, nobody came to meet them about his son except the press union and the international bodies. He said he has made several attempts to meet the President and the Vice President about his son but all the attempts had failed. He said he heard the President’s comment about his son when the Media chiefs met him at the State House and is still wondering how his son could have left the country without his knowledge.
Meanwhile, he was asked what he would want to tell the Justice Minister about his recent remarks on his son. He said he would want to meet the Justice Minister in person.
“How did he know my son is alive? Where is he kept? Why does it have to take all these long years to find my son? Why is it that his statement and the president are not the same?” asked  Sarjo Manneh.

SOURCE :foroyaa.gm

GAMBIA: THREE WEEKS AFTER THE BUSUMBALA ACCIDENT INVOLVING JAMMEH'S CONVOY.NO STATEMENT FROM GOVERNMENT.

By Lamin Sanyang

It is more than three weeks when one of the vehicles in the President’s convoy had an accident at Busumbala that resulted in deaths, injuries and damaged to properties. No television or radio coverage of the incident had been broadcast and no press release concerning the accident has been issued. 

“We have not heard from any one since the funeral,” said a family source.
The family of Dawda Jatta lost two children in the accident and their third child was admitted at the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital. This reporter visited the family at Busumbala and he found out that the child that was admitted at the hospital, Dawda Jatta Jr, has been discharged after spending three weeks at the hospital. He sustained injuries on his head. The family said the child’s head was scanned, but the result was not communicated to them.
“I think we will return him to the hospital because he is acting strangely. He could not recognize some members of the family and he finds it difficult to talk,” said a distraught family member.
They said apart from the fee that was paid for the scanning of his head, they were responsible for all the medical bills including the food and transportation to the hospital. It is reported that there are still other people lying at the hospital. Their family members are also responsible for their treatment.

A resident of Bundung and a family member of the late Mrs. Rohey Sonko (a woman who died in the accident at Busumbula) told this reporter that the corpse of her late mother was long transported to Cassamance (the southern part of Senegal) for burial. Asked what next after the burial she said: “I would not know because the impact of the accident still makes me panic,” she said.
She further revealed to this reporter that there was an eight year child who was with her late mother in the van that was hit by a vehicle from the President’s convoy. She said the upper teeth of the child were broken and that the kid is still admitted at the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital in Banjul . She was asked to disclose the person responsible for the medical bills, but she declined to comment.
However, another young lady in her mid twenties, Ms. Kaddy Jatta, was found lying down on a mattress on the ground with both legs broken and wrapped in bandages. She was surrounded by family members at Bundung. She said she was discharged from Banjul hospital last week Tuesday. She said she is a staff of Gamtel, the country’s national telecommunication company. She was asked whether any compensation was given to her, but she answered in the negative.
“My boss is the one paying all the medical bills,” she said.
Miss. Jatta explained the hardship that she is undergoing because of the accident, while complaining of losing her two mobile phones plus two thousand dalasi during the accident. She said she cannot move without a wheel chair. She said she was visited once by the soldiers at the hospital.
“Since I was released at the hospital, I have seen no one to tell me my faith,” she lamented.
Mrs. Fatou Badjie, another victim of the accident was discharged from the hospital last Monday. She told this reporter that the accident has affected her head, ribs and the ankle of her right leg.
“I was in a state of unconsciousness during most part of the time I spent at the hospital,” she remarked.
Mrs. Badjie was asked whether she received any compensation which she answered in the negative, but added that she did not pay any medical bills. She was asked whether she was visited by the authorities, but she said she was once visited by the soldiers at the hospital. She complained that she lost her mobile phone at the accident. When asked about her present health condition after she was released from the hospital.
“My sides are severelyaching,” she complained.
The owner of the Toyota van that was hit by the vehicle was contacted to explain the situation. He told this reporter that the van is still parked at New Yundum Police station. He was asked whether any compensation was given to him, but he answered in the negative.
“They did not contact us,” he said.
However, he said he went to the Insurance Company where he insured his vehicle and he was given a document to take to the police for signature. He said the document was signed by the police. He said the accident has really affected his work and family. He said he is waiting for the response of the authorities. 


Source:foroyaa.gm

The Gambia ALERT: Lawyer jailed for defending his client

Moses Richards, a Gambian lawyer, was on September 19, 2011 sentenced to a total of two years six months imprisonment in connection with his work of representing a client.

Media Foundation for West Africa’s (MFWA) sources reported that the Banjul Magistrate’s Court found Richards, a former High Court judge, guilty of sedition and handed him a two-year jail term.  He was sentenced to a further six months for supposedly giving false information to the office of President Yahya Jammeh.

Both sentences are running concurrently.

The charges against Richards stemmed from a letter he wrote on behalf of Pa Ebrima Colley, his client, to the Sheriff of the Banjul High Court. The letter reportedly mentioned the office of President Yahya Jammeh, as ordering the sheriff for a stay of judgement in a land dispute between two families in a village in the western part of The Gambia.

Richards, during his defence, maintained that he did not write anything that was contemptuous of President; neither did he give false information to the Sheriff.

Richards who was decorated with national honours, was on January 31, 2010 remanded in prison custody after he was arraigned before court to answer two criminal charges.

In a release, The Gambia Bar Association (GBA) said: “It is a universally accepted principle of all civilized societies that an advocate must be allowed to represent his or her client without fear or favour” and that Richards is being punished for discharging “his duties as a lawyer and while under the direct instruction of his client”.

“Richard’s client [Colley] appeared in court and swore under oath that he did indeed instruct Richards to write the said letter. These are the ‘crimes’ for which Richards is being punished,” the statement emphasized.

“Once again, The Gambia is portrayed as a nation where the mere mention of the Office of the President is risky. The Gambia Bar Association urges the executive branch of the government to take note,” the GBA added.

MFWA is appalled at the misuse of these sedition laws. We demand the repeal of sedition laws which are being used to suppress the voice of Gambians.

Richard’s sentence is not legitimate.

MFWA strongly condemns this act. The sentence must be revoked and the charges against him must be dropped immediately. 

For more information please contact:

Kwame Karikari (Prof)

Executive Director

MFWA

Accra

Tel: 233-30-22 4 24 70

Fax: 233-302-22 10 84

Email: mfwa@africaonline.com.gh, alerts@mediafound.org

Website: www.mediafound.org

Gambia VP touts tourism, downplays human rights issues

By Mohamed Keita/CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator

Gambian Vice-President Isatou Njie-Saidy (AFP)

The Gambia has an image problem: Dubbed the "Smiling Coast of Africa," it is a tourist destination, but its government has one of the region's worst records of human rights abuses. On Tuesday, at an African tourism promotion event in New York City, Gambian Vice-President Isatou Njie-Saidy headed a delegation working toward improving the negative perceptions of the country.

In a discussion with Njie-Saidy after the event, I mentioned to her that an Internet search of the Gambia yields many results about its human right abuses. In response, she shifted the topic to the United States: "Do they tell you about Guantánamo Bay? Seems like a human rights issue," she said. "And, you know, in the Internet, you have a lot of garbage. ... Don't believe everything you read: You have to look in between." She later accused social media of peddling untruths: "Social media is the problem," she said.

Accordingly, I brought up to the vice-president the well-documented case of a journalist whose detention in government custody for more than five years has left his family, friends, and colleagues in anguish. The case of Ebrimah "Chief" Manneh, a reporter whose whereabouts, legal status, and health have been unknown since Gambian state security agents arrested him in 2006 at his office at the pro-government Daily Observer, was not unfamiliar to the vice-president. In fact, six U.S. senators, UNESCO, and a West African human rights court have called on the Gambia to end its illegal detention of the journalist.

Despite this, the vice-president told me, "The government didn't arrest him. At the same time, people make up stories. Who knows what happened to Manneh? We don't know--I cannot answer, because I don't know." She then suggested that the journalist may have gone missing while attempting to immigrate to Europe. "There are people who die in the desert--anything can happen to anybody," she said.

Njie-Saidy's government has deprived Manneh of his freedom and, more recently,referred to the journalist's death. Still, the vice-president denied any responsibility in accounting for his fate. "That incident, as far I know--I don't know anything about it," she told me. 

CPJ's Dario Reais contributed to this story.

Mohamed Keita is advocacy coordinator for CPJ's Africa Program. He regularly gives interviews in French and English to international news media on press freedom issues in Africa and has participated in several panels. Follow him on Twitter: @africamedia_CPJ.


Souce:cpj.org

Gambia: Press Release from The Gambia Bar Assosiation

This Monday, the 19^th day September 2011 at approximately 11 am at the Banjul Magistrates Court, Moses B. J Richards, a legal practitioner was convicted and sentenced to serve a term of 2 years with hard labour at Mile II Central State Prisons. The alleged crimes for which he was convicted were giving false information to a public servant contrary to section 114(a) of the Criminal Code and sedition contrary to Section 52(1)(a) of the Criminal Code.

The prosecution, conviction and sentencing was presided over and carried out by Magistrate T. A. Alagbe.

By this appalling act the Gambia Bar Association considers the whole Gambian legal profession and the rule of law to have been tried and convicted by extension.

The Gambia Bar Association unreservedly condemns the judgment delivered by Mr. Alagbe and considers it to be an assault on the independence of the profession as well as a malicious attack on the independence of the bar.

It is a universally accepted principle of all civilized societies that an advocate must be allowed to represent his or her client without fear or favour. In this instance the charges against Mr. Richards related to a letter he had written to the Sheriff of the High Court in the course of his duties as a lawyer and while under the direct instruction of his client. The letter made reference to the executive branch of the government. Mr. Richard’s client appeared in court and swore under oath that he did indeed instruct Mr. Richards to write the said letter. These are the ‘crimes’ for which Mr. Richards is being punished.

Once again The Gambia is portrayed as a nation where the mere mention of the Office of the President is risky. The Gambia Bar Association urges the executive branch of the government to take note while its name is used to drive a wedge between the State and the people.

This judgment is a violation of all known principles that seek to protect and safeguard the integrity of the profession as well as uphold the human rights and dignity of the citizen. This judgment sets a dangerous precedent that will once more smear the international reputation of The Gambia and yet again further weaken the already failing Gambian legal system.

The Gambia Bar Association calls on the Executive branch of Government to pay heed to the Legal sector that has recently taken a severe bludgeoning by the forces of corruption and incompetence. There is no doubt that such a judgment would not have been delivered in any other regional Commonwealth nation especially Nigeria, the native land of Mr. Alagbe.

The Gambia Bar Association decries this latest battering of the constitution and the rights of all citizens. We call on the Government of the Gambia to step in and protect its citizens … we call on the government of The Gambia to intervene in the public degradation of the constitution…. we call on the government of the Gambia to free Moses Richards!

The Gambia Bar Association will no longer stand by while these atrocities are carried out in our country against our people by those who would not dare act in such a manner in their country of origin. The bar hereby puts all relevant authorities on notice that the Gambia Bar Association will actively seek the institution of disciplinary action against Mr. Alagbe in Nigeria and will do the same to all other foreign lawyers that seek to visit terror and humiliation on Gambians.

We once more openly invite the executive to dialogue for the interest of all our brothers and sisters.


Source:Freedomnewspaper.com