YAHYA JAMMEH'S JUSTICE PAUL
 
                                          By Ebrima G. Sankareh
                                                    Raleigh, NC, USA
 
            The preliminary objections by the NADD trio: Messrs. Halifa Sallah, Omar A. Jallow and Amat Bah not to be tried by Justice Paul, constitute the bedrock of any legal system worthy of its name. The key word is IMPARTIALITY! All three accused persons, men of finesse, timber and caliber, see in Justice Paul, himself a subject of parliamentary investigation, an irrelevant legal quantity prior to his meteoric rise to the bench as a laughing stalk of the Gambian legal system. In sum, Paul is a partisan jurist whose financial activities at the erstwhile AMRC has raised and continue to raise eyebrows. It was Hon. Amat Bah who alleged in the National Assembly that Paul was involved in dubious activities while at the AMRC. It was Hon. Halifa Sallah who suggested that allegations alone were not enough, that an inquiry was required for purposes of fairness to both Paul and the public. In the subsequent investigation, the Committee found evidence of impropriety as alleged. The one million-Dollar question to all men of reason is: how can Justice Paul preside over this pending case judiciously? You ponder!      
                I have said elsewhere and I will repeat that Paul is a gold digger turned jurist in the service of the grand dictator of Banjul. Like Jammeh the anti-corruption crusader who metastasized to an idiot of a dictator, the sickest ever to assume the mantle of power in West Africa, Paul is a legal embryo tasked with the delicate and complex business of the literati and not of the glitterati. "Paul is perhaps the lowest caliber lawyer I have ever encountered in my entire legal career" a high profile judge told me last night during a privileged conversation on the phone. So if the dude is so low how come he is a high court justice I posed. "Well Mr. Sankareh not only that, Paul lacks candor. but this is the precarious situation that The Gambia is in today" my conversationalist judge said. Chilling words as they are, this is the sad reality confronting a nation whose sons of independence: Jammeh, Sabally, Singhateh and Hydara told us on July 22, 1994, that they have come to rescue from rampant corruption, thirty years of PPP misrule etc, etc. Little did we know that, eleven years later, "the gallant four" as Gabriel Roberts eulogized them at The Gambia college graduation shortly after the coup, will be presiding over the most callous and wanting regime. The Gambia under Yahya Jammeh has become Liberia under Doe or Uganda under Idi Amin.
            As has always been the case in history, mediocrities like Paul will take advantage of the situation with little or no regard to the rule of law. For Paul to say in open court "that Gambians don't like me .and some politicians don't like me" speaks volumes about the legal mind in Justice Paul. After all, before WWII there were legal luminaries in Germany who aided and certainly abetted the Nazi perpetrators all the way to the crematorium. Theoretically, they were taught the concepts of the Rule of Law and Separation of Powers, yet these ideals did not mean anything to these criminals. A lethal force, state power, blinded them. In a fashion reminiscent of Hitler, Ho Chi Min presided over Vietnam and liquidated well over two million of his countrymen. Like wise Paul Pot in Cambodia. The situation in The Gambia is so bad that all too often, when you call friends, they feign a faulty phone line only to avoid being tapped by the NIA, an all too powerful state agency, a nasty embodiment of the political oxymoron of intelligence. And as if by divine intervention, the architect of this very witch hunting agency, Mr. Samba Bah is himself "vegetating behind iron bars at Mile II prisons" to quote his lawyer Antouman Gaye. In all honesty, Samba bah (Bah) is facing an all too familiar side of Jammeh's law, injustice. Like Jammeh, Bah rose to prominence in the wake of the July 22 coup with so much anger about Jawara's regime. For those who do not know, Batch was fired for unsubstantiated claims that a coup plot was underfoot to oust the PPP from littoral Banjul. He was placed on indefinite leave and subsequently sacked by the then National Security Service (NSS), a sequel to his brainchild, the National Intelligence Agency (NIA). In fact, at the time of the coup Batch was a litigant at the Supreme Court for wrongful dismissal. By a concommitant twist of fate his lawyer was Ousman Sillah a fantastic legal mind who almost lost his life after a hail of bullets were fired at him only because he represented Baba Jobe, an old lieutenant who ran afoul of the dictator. Back tracking Bah's record, I report with absolute certainty that he was at the epicenter of Jammeh's regime and his signature was so precious for most major arrests and human rights violations to be effected. In so doing he has made himself so many enemies. For it is one thing to be angry at a deposed regime, but is another thing to remain conscious of the vicissitudes of time. Whatever your intentions for renaming the NSS were, one thing remains certain; that you have an ugly legacy for creating an arrogant agency more competent at witch hunting, fabrications, lies, manipulations, abuse, torture and all forms of inhuman degradation than intelligence. Your very detention and all the stupid charges that you faced are a testament to this. The very regime you helped to consolidate.  Now charges you with espionage, terrorism and economic crimes. Your former Operations Director and successor, Daba Marena the most brutal agent I have ever encountered in my journalism career must learn from your own experiences now. He too, has a story to be written at a later date, for "the evil that men do live after them."                 
                                   Of Power and Arrogance 
Ever since coming to power on July 22, 1994 power and arrogance are the most dubious distinctions of Yahya Jammeh's government. These, together with religious myopia and an envy of the glitterati personify a President who is neither Muslim nor Christian. There is evidence aplenty! He has the longest bastardized name of both faiths thus: Yahya Abdul Aziz Jamus Junkung Jammeh. To please the Muslims, he will dress like a sultan, carry the palpable paradox of prayer beads and a sword and utter a few words in Arabic. To please the Christians, he will call the imams at State Joke (no more State House), speak rudely to them and since September, 11, 2001, arrest some Arab hustlers and charged them with terrorism to gain American recognition. When he comes to Washington he dines with the rich and powerful. He lavishly gives out hard currency to his sycophants while his country is at the precipice of a state made famine. 
            However, at the crescendo of his arrogance he has met his match in Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade. Their only difference is that while Wade is an intellectual turned authoritarian dictator, Jammeh is a quasi-baked sub-lieutenant who quickly metamorphosed to a deadly dictator. Feeling embarrassed, defeated, dejected and probably threatened by his more militarily muscular neighbor, his arrogance dissipated. He jetted to Dakar and apologized to his almost Octogenarian neighbor. Little wonder, once he returned to Banjul a humiliated President, he turned to officials of the National Alliance for Democracy & Development (NADD) to unleash his anger in a familiar fashion of state terror. And once again, his choice of jurist is the Nigerian hustler Justice Paul; a buffoon dressed in judicial regalia with no judicial background except that like the rest, he needs money regardless of the consequences.  Consequences that will be really costly!  
                         
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Amadu Kabir Njie <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 15:26:18 +0000
Subject: Fwd: FOROYAA NEWSPAPER BURNING ISSUE - Issue No. 89/2005, 21-23 November,2005


  FOROYAA NEWSPAPER BURNING ISSUE
  Issue No. 89/2005, 21-23 November,2005
  Editorial
  THE JUDICIARY UNDER TRIAL
  Many readers and sympathisers of the three NADD leaders facing trial have 
expressed concern about fairness of the trial and wish the case be transferred 
to another judge. They simply could not understand why the accused were accused 
were not granted bail when the offence was a misdemeanour.
  Some judges have faced experiences similar to what Justice Paul experienced 
during the proceedings of last Friday in the trial of three NADD leaders. At the 
trial of Dumo Saho and others, Justice Grant decided to withdraw from the case 
when the then DPP wrote to the Chief Justice and requested that the case to be 
transferred. In another trial, Justice Kabalata withdrew from the case when he 
realised that the accused had boarded his vehicle. Both parties wanted him to 
continue with the case, but he declined because he felt that justice may not be 
seen to be done. In another trial, certain remarks were made by one of the 
lawyers which appeared to the trial judge as statements that doubt his 
impartiality. The trial judge, Justice Belghore, withdrew from the case because 
he felt justice may not be seen to be done. In the Appeal of Binta Sidibeh 
against the state, defence counsel, Lawyer Ousainou Darboe, told the Court of 
Appeal that his client was of the view that she would not get a
 fair trial if the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Annin sits in the 
panel of judges. Justice Annin did not agree with this view. Nonetheless, he 
withdrew from the case. Egueme had to withdraw from a case when one of the 
parties indicated their fear that the judge would not be impartial. In the trial 
of Waa Juwara by Justice Paul, the accused indicated that he did not expect a 
fair trial and requested to transfer the case but the trial judge (Justice Paul) 
refused. He continued with the trial, convicted Waa Juwara of sedition and 
sentenced him to six months imprisonment.
  An experienced lawyer told me that any decent member of the bench whose 
impartiality in a case is questioned, unless he has vested interest in the case, 
would withdraw from the case. Well, may be Justice Paul is not aware of these 
experience or his style is simply different.


  NADD TRIO IN COURT
  Impartiality of Judge Questioned
  Halifa Sallah, Omar Jallow alias OJ and Hamat NK Bah who are all Executive 
members of the Executive Committee of the National Alliance for Democracy and 
Development (NADD) who were arrested on Tuesday 15th November 2005 after the 
state alleged that they are suspected of engaging in subversive activities that 
could threaten national security, were on Friday 18th November 2005 arraigned 
before Justice Paul of the Banjul High Court.
  When the case was called before an over crowded court room, there was complete 
silence, because the hundreds of supporters and onlookers were eager to hear the 
charges that are preferred against their leaders. Many onlookers were expected 
the charges to be related to the allegations that were levelled against the 
opposition by President Jammeh on Koriteh day; that the Opposition was feeding 
Abdoulaye Wade with false information. Others felt, given the way the arrests 
were conducted, that the charges would be serious.
  A senior registrar of the High Court read the charges to the accused persons. 
In the first count, Halifa Sallah is charged with utterance of seditious words, 
in an interview with Sana Camara of The Independent Newspaper, in the month of 
July 2005.
  Count 2 is that Halifa Sallah and Omar Jallow uttered false allegations and 
information against the Government of the Gambia and the President of the 
Republic in a publication in November, 2005.
  He went further to say that Omar Jallow is also charged with sedition, as a 
result of an interview he granted to Ebrima Sankareh of The Point Newspaper, in 
July 2005.
  On questioning the first accused whether he has heard what was read against 
him. Hon. Halifa Sallah said, "I am a member of the National Assembly and having 
participated in the debate of the National Assembly Inquiry report which 
implicated you, I fear I may not have an impartial and fair trial so I don't 
want you to try me." At this point Justice Paul reacted and said "Through out 
your studies where have you seen an accused choosing who should try him or her? 
At this stage, he lifted the constitution and said "I am a Judge with a 
difference; all my work is based on the rule of law without fear or favour." 
Omar Jallow also took the same position as Halifa Sallah.
  The furious judge at this stage refused the request of the accused to be tried 
by another judge, noting that throughout his career as a lawyer and as a judge, 
he had never learnt of an accused deciding who would try him. He took their lack 
of taking a plea at this stage as pleading NOT GUILTY. He therefore entered a 
plea of not guilty on behalf of the two accused. He consulted the prosecution 
for a date of adjournment at this stage. The prosecution noted that the 
investigation was ongoing. When the prosecution wanted to raise the issue of 
bail, the trial judge stopped her, noting that the accused persons have not 
raised the issue. The trial judge proceeded to remand the two accused in 
custody.
  The senior registrar then moved on to read the single charge that is preferred 
against the third accused Hamat NK Bah who is said to be charged with unlawfully 
retaining an unauthorised document; that in the month of November 2005 a 
document of the government was found in Hamat's possession. When Bah was asked 
to take his plea, he associated himself with the position taken by Halifa Sallah 
the first accused. He expressed the fear that he will not have a fair and 
impartial trial before Justice M.A Paul. Hamat said his reasons are clear. He 
said that he was a member of the National Assembly. He went on to say during the 
course of a debate at the National Assembly, he talked about the activities of 
the (AMRC) Assets Management and Recovery Corporation, which eventually led to 
the setting up of a parliamentary committee of inquiry and he (the trial judge) 
happened to be involved in those activities of the AMRC. "At the end of the 
inquiry, my lord you were implicated by the report of
 that committee and I further participated in the debate of that report. 
Therefore, since that committee is still continuing its inquiry into that public 
institution of which you were a role player, I don't want you to try me", Bah 
remarked.
  Justice Paul however in handing down his ruling against this submission, 
brushed aside all that the third accused said, giving the same reason as in the 
case of the first and second accused persons. Justice Paul took his reluctance 
to take his plea to mean that he had pleaded not guilty; he (Justice Paul) then 
entered a plea of not guilty. He proceeded to consult the prosecution for an 
adjourned date and the prosecution indicated that the investigation was ongoing. 
Without consulting the accused persons, he ordered that Hamat Bah be remanded in 
custody pending further Police Investigation. Sallah and Jallow are to appear in 
on 14th December, while Bah is to reappear on 19th December.
  As the accused were moving to board a vehicle to transport them to their 
places of detention, Armed Police Intervention Unit personnel were seen 
scattered in front of the court yard and the streets leading to the court 
complex.
  Some of the PIU personnel were dressed in their riot gears consisting of gas 
and batons. The hundreds of NADD supporters clapped and chanted slogans like:
  -"You are our heroes and liberators.
  -We are with you till liberation day.
  -this will be the era of a NADD government,
  -when the rule of law will be placed above all things,
  -when tolerance for the views of others will be highly respected,
  -the day when lawmakers will consult and sensitise people before action,
  -the day when law enforcement agents will pay respect to only the rule of law.
  -NADD is here to stay for the peace of our dear motherland and the rest of the 
globe."


  Relatives NADD Detainees Denied Access
  The relatives of the three NADD detainees who have been remanded in custody by 
a court of trial were not allowed to see these detainees. On Friday, Saturday 
and Sunday the wives of Halifa Sallah, Hamat Bah and Omar Jallow went to Mile 
Two Prisons to visit their husbands, but they were not allowed to see them. They 
took foodstuff and other items for their spouses, but the guards did not accept 
them. The spouses intend to meet the Director General of Prisons today inorder 
to get an explantion on why they were not allowed to meet their husbands.
  FOROYAA's enquiry has revealed that the visiting hours for remand prisoners, 
who are different from convicts, are as follows:
  9 am to 11.30 am
  2 pm to 3.30 pm
  This is any day.
  Infact in the case of Mr. Omar Jallow, the wife was told that he was not at 
Mile Two Prisons.

  HAMAT BAH'S ELECTION PETITION
  By Surakata Danso
  Judicial Sources have informed this paper that the election petition filed by 
Hamat NK Bah following the by elections that took place on 29th September 2005, 
will be heard by the Banjul High Court on the 22nd day of November 2005. Sources 
have it that the suit will be presided over by Justice Tahirr.

  PA SALLAH JENG SUES SOS FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND ATTORNEY GENERAL
  Pa Sallah Jeng, the Mayor of the Banjul city Council has instituted legal 
action against the secretary of state for local Government and lands and 
Attorney General. The suit is accompanied by a certificate of urgency which is 
prepared and filed by outspoken human rights lawyer, Hawa Sisay, the counsel for 
the accused.
  "I hereby certify that it is expected that this suit be heard urgently on the 
ground that it arises grave and important legal issues of enormous public 
interest affecting the office of the mayor of Banjul elected under the local 
Government Act as amended and it is important that these be disposed urgently." 
She pleaded.
  The plaintiff, pa Sallah Jeng is seeking the following prayers.
  (1)       A declaration that the suspension of Pa Sallah Jeng as mayor of 
Banjul by the Secretary of state for Land and local Government is null, void and 
contrary to the local Government Act 2002 as amended.
  (2)       A declaration that the no notice or resolution was signed or passed 
by the councilors of Banjul city Council for the removal of Pa Sallah Jeng as 
mayor of Banjul.
  (3)       An order directing the first Respondent, the Secretary of state for 
local Government and Lands to re-instate Pa Sallah Jeng as mayor of Banjul.
  (4)       An order prohibiting the respondents from lawful interference with 
the office of the mayor.
  (5)       An order directing the Secretary of state for local Government and 
Lands to revoke the appointment of the Acting mayoress of Banjul.
  (6)       Such further orders,
  The case touches on section 20 of the Local Government Act 2002 as amended by 
the Local Government Act of 2004. The matter also touches on section 37 of the 
constitution of the Republic of the Gambia.
  Battle lines have been drawn following the decision of the Secretary of State 
for Local Government and Lands.

  REMINDER TO THE PRESIDENT

  Dear Editor,
  Allow me space in your widely read Newspaper to express my concern about the 
situation in the Gambia. I do not intend to occupy your space this time but the 
nature of the situation has compelled me to do so. The substance contained in 
this message will serve as a reminder and food for thought for the President.
  Mr. President when you came to office in July 22, 1994, people thought you 
were going to create an atmosphere better than the former regime, where people 
will own themselves, live in liberty and dignity. But these thoughts were 
ironical. You have transformed the Gambia into a country where murder, terror, 
mental and physical slavery, hunger, poverty, unlawful arrest and detention, 
hatred among people, injustice, discrimination and brutality are the order of 
the day.
  The type of Gambia we know is not the type we have found ourselves now. This 
is a strange Gambia to Gambians. Gambia used to be a land where humility, 
stability, peace, tranquillity, freedom of _expression and security was the 
order of the day. Mr. President you want to retain the Presidency but forever 
you know that is impossible. That seat is temporary and the only seat that is 
permanent is that of Allah. Yesterday you were not there, but today you are 
there and tomorrow it will be somebody else. This has really corroborated your 
statement that the world is three days, i.e. yesterday, today and tomorrow. You 
must get up from that seat one day whether you like it or not. Mr. President 
imagine how many people your leadership has impoverished; imagine how many 
people have been kept and continue to be kept unlawfully in Mile 2 Central 
Prisons and other prisons in the country; imagine how many people have been 
unlawfully detained and continue to be detained at NIA Headquarters, Police
 Headquarters and other detention centres. Remember that history is on the 
record and you must account for your deeds.
  Mr. President times come and pass, and each time comes with its nature. 
Therefore, leadership and governance must come and pass. Each day that comes is 
a page and history shall judge you by your records. History shall teach you a 
lesson. Can't you remember people like Kwame Nkurumah, Nelson Mandela, Thomas 
Sankara, Patrick Lumumba? They struggled for African unity and liberty. Didn't 
you ever wish to be like them? These people will ever live in the hearts of the 
African people who treasure justice. Mr. President you have adopted the systems 
of people like Eddi Amin, Penusubi, Mobutu and Heissen Habre, who is currently 
undergoing a bitter experience.
  Mr. President, you seem to use your praise singers i.e. GRTS, Interior to 
fabricate an unbelievable story in a bid to discredit Halifa Sallah. 
Unfortunately Mr. President you and praise singers cannot achieve your purpose, 
as people including yourself know very well that Hon. Sallah is not a man of 
that type. You are only fanning propaganda. You know very well that Halifa is 
not the man who would run or be at large for fear of being arrested, terrorised 
or murdered. History has proven Halifa to be a brave man, as you know very well 
his encounter with your group during the transition period when most people were 
muted. Instead you are the coward, who is even threatened by words. That is why 
you fenced yourself with gunmen. Halifa was only clarifying the air so that you 
can justify yourself by providing evidence or apologise to them because they are 
being accused of causing the problem between Gambia and Senegal. Now that the 
state has charged them for sedition, tell the Gambian
 masses and the world that you have fabricated this story from your APRC bureau. 
Hon. Sallah is a man of the people and his credibility will ever remain in the 
hearts of Gambians. No bullet, no detention or sentence or threat can bar him 
from his service to the people.
  Mr. President, you have appealed against a case involving Ousainou and Co. You 
would bear me witness that the DPP was geared towards this appeal case. Indeed, 
this is an interesting scenario. Mr. Agim was the Chief Prosecutor of that case 
and now he is a judge at the court of appeal
  Mr. President do not be afraid of the polls in the 2006 election if you are 
confident that Gambian people will vote for you. It is high time that you do not 
see the opposition as enemies but as an alternative government. This will help 
you in creating a Gambia that is known for peace and free of oppression. Gambia 
must regain its peace, stability, security and harmonious relationship among 
people.

  By S.S
  A Concern Citizen

  GAMBIA UNIVERSITY UNDER MICROSCOPE
  The Gambia University which was established in 1999 as a successor to the 
University Extension Program (UEP) is really experiencing waves of academic 
sicknesses. A university which is a training ground for future intellectuals of 
sobre orientation has now been turned to a political, egocentric and monarchical 
system of kingship. The administration, after the departure of the first ever 
vice chancellor, Professor Donald Ekong and the registrar Emmanuel (JP) Apkan, 
has not met expectation. Then what is the purpose of setting a university? If 
the president of the Republic feels every Gambian student must be educated to a 
university level and that is why he created these two universities UEP and 
Gambia's own university, then why is he discouraging some private sponsors? He 
has declared at the Arch 22 to us that he was going to give all of us present at 
the peace march where we were dragged to, like oxen ploughs student leaders in 
collaboration with some stakeholders who thought some of
 the student leaders at the time were anti government.
  We, the students, are now demanding from His Excellency to either pay the sum 
to university of the Gambia so that we can graduate and others can attain their 
lectures and on time. Most of us lost our sponsors owing to the president's 
remarks at the Arch 22 regarding full scholarship to the students and neither 
are they paying nor the government is paying, where do we stand?
  In limbo and darkness our future does not hold anything for us. Injustice any 
where is a threat to justice everywhere; we are caught in an inescapable network 
of mutuality, tied in a single game of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, 
affects others indirectly but never again can we afford to live with the narrow, 
provincial "outside agitator' idea. Any one who lives in the Gambia University 
and does not lie to the state can never have scholarship from the government. 
Then readership, where is the credit going to? We do not want to create a 
tension in the minds so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths 
and half-truths to the unfettered realm to creative analysis and objective 
appraisal. We do not need violent gadflies to create the kind of tension in the 
university that will help students to rise from the dark depths of prejudice and 
paradigm to the height of understanding and brotherhood
  It is time that through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily 
given and our promised scholarship will never come, we must demand for it or 
revoke our support to a regime that gives us velvet promises as a sugar quoted 
lip services by playing with the intelligence of we the future leaders.  There 
will come a time when the cup of endurance will run over, and men and women of 
the university will no longer be ready to be plunged into an abyss of injustice 
to experience the blackness of corroding despair. We hope the government will 
understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.
  Furthermore, shallow understanding from people of good will is more 
frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Luke warm 
acceptance is much more bewildering than outside rejection. It is the 
hypocritical and unswerving commitment to truth and their philosophical delving 
precipitated and misguided popular minds thus backed the centripetal. We are now 
moving with a sense of cosmic urgency towards the promised land of natural 
justice come 2006 national history. The current University Students' Union is 
not the thermometer that can record the ideas and principles of popular opinion 
in the university as most of us follow the union before for scholarship but we 
do not because we have killed ourselves by day and night yet nothing. The union 
is now a thermometer that transforms the mores of society.

  By a concern student of UoTG


  STATEMENT BY STGDP

  Wednesday, November 16, 2005
  The Save The Gambia Democracy Project (STGDP), the Movement for Democracy and 
Development, the Movement for Restoration of Democracy in The Gambia, and many 
other Gambian associations, and well wishers, join the people of Gambia and the 
rest of the international community in passionately condemning, in the strongest 
sense of the word, the confirmed arrest of
  Omar Amadou Jallow (OJ) and Hamat Bah, and Honourable Halifa Sallah of the 
National Alliance for Democracy and Development (NADD).
  STGDP has confirmed that OJ and Hamat Bah were arrested by security personnel 
late Tuesday, November 15, 2005 and are currently held at the Mile Two prison 
complex on allegations of engagement in subversive activity; the whereabouts of 
Hon. Sallah could not be confirmed at this time.
  We wish to extend to the families of the affected individuals, the people of 
Gambia, and the entire international community, our heartfelt support and intent 
to do everything we possibly can to ensure that OJ, Hamat, and Halifa's 
fundamental rights and privileges under the law, are not further trampled upon 
with impunity. We intend to ensure the maximum exposure of the brutality, 
blatant disregard of the fundamental rights of individuals, abrupt kidnappings, 
and disappearances perpetuated by the APRC government to the international 
community.
  We understand that these spurious allegations of engagement in subversive 
activity are the threats President Yaya Jammeh promised to deliver in his end of 
Ramadan speech to the Muslim Elders, in which he alluded to the fact that he was 
going to ensure that most of the opposition leaders will not be around for the 
2006 elections. We can say without a doubt that being leaders of a political 
coalition that has the potential to unseat the APRC government in the impending 
general elections in 2006, OJ, Hamat, and
  Halifa have other things on their minds other than engaging in subversive 
activity against the government.
  The NADD leaders, albeit President Jammeh's massive usurpation of the judicial 
powers, have always opted to go through the legal system.  They have endured 
countless threats, harassment, abductions, torture, and various forms of 
violations of their civil and human rights, and that of their colleagues and 
loved ones; but have never resorted to any illegal means.  Instead, they have 
continued to refrain from anything that may plunge the Gambia into civil unrest 
and brought their complaints to the attention of the legal and international 
community.  These are loving sons, and daughters, of the Gambia, who have made 
countless sacrifices in their fight to bring about a democratic Gambia.
  Furthermore, every well meaning observer of Gambian politics will attest to 
the fact that Hon. Sallah is not the type that will flee arrest contrary to the 
press release issued on Gambia Radio and Television.
  Hence, this latest series of arrests is but another one of the APRC 
government's endless trampling of the rights of Gambians and of those who refuse 
to turn-a-blind-eye to their numerous despotic activities.
  With this press release, we herein appeal to all Gambians, in and out of the 
country, all Gambian organizations around the world, journalists and other press 
groups, all African and international organizations, all governments, and all 
believers in democratic jurisprudence to join us in harnessing all resources in 
order to maximally expose the tyranny that is in the APRC government, and to 
demand for the immediate release of OJ, Hamat, and Halifa. Join us in sternly 
warning the security forces that their well-being must not be compromised in any 
way, and under any circumstances. We further demand that the APRC government 
immediately confirm to the general public the whereabouts of Hon. Sallah.
  We are hereby letting President Jammeh know that we hold very seriously, his 
stated threats to the opposition, during his end of Ramadan speech and these 
recent arrests of NADD leaders.  We also hereby state that from this day 
forward, we are resolved to take all actions necessary to ensure that
  President Jammeh and his junta will be held accountable for any, and all, 
actions that violate the civil and human rights of individuals or the 
constitution, and for all illegal government mandated activities by the security 
forces or other agents of the regime.
  WE WILL NEVER BE SILENCED.

  NADD'S STATEMENT ON ARREST OF TRIO
  The people of our dear nation are shocked by the press release emanating from 
the Department of State for the Interior informing the world at large that Hamat 
Bah, Omar Jallow (OJ) "have been arrested and are helping the Police in their 
investigations into subversive activities and posing threat to national 
security" and that "the third suspect Halifa Sallah of NADD" was at large. 
Gambians and all sane and decent minded persons are not only shocked by this 
announcement but they are disgusted by the misinformation and the arbitrary 
arrest and detention of these three members of the Executive Committee of the 
National Alliance for Democracy and Development (NADD). They have, since their 
arrest by the Security forces on Tuesday, 15th November, 2005, been held 
incommunicado.
  Although the State's misinformation machinery disclosed that these three 
senior members of the NADD Executive are helping the Police in their 
investigations of subversive activities and threats to national security yet 
information reaching NADD from official sources are that the State is studying 
what charges to prefer against them. This practice of arresting political 
targets and then scratching one's head in the search for trumped up charges is 
to say the least arbitrary and an abuse of the State's power of arrest. It is 
inimical to the rule of law and undermines the bona fide application of the due 
process concept that requires the arrest of a suspect upon reasonable suspicion 
that he has committed an offence or is about to commit an offence.
  The release issued by The Department of State for the Interior is very typical 
of the false and fabricated assertions by dictators against political opponents 
and this particular release is no exception.
  Gambians will recall that after the Supreme Court of the Gambia declared the 
seats of the four Opposition National Assembly members vacant, President Jammeh 
addressed a political rally at Sinchu at which he declared that he will support 
and take part in any effort that is aimed at destroying Hamat Bah and that he 
will do everything possible to ensure that both Hamat Bah and Halifa Sallah do 
not return to the National Assembly. The arrest of and detention of both Hamat 
Bah and Halifa Sallah is a fulfillment of that promise. With the type of 
fabricated allegations against the three arrested
  NADD Executive members, Halifa Sallah (the Minority Leader and a member of the 
Pan-African Parliament) will not only be kept away from participating in the 
proceedings of the National Assembly and the PanAfrican Parliament for an 
indefinite period but the wish and will of the people of Serrekunda Central in 
electing to the National Assembly will stand stultified.
  It is the view of the NADD that the airing of the Press release by the State 
media which continued even a day after the arrest of Halifa Sallah is a 
calculated ploy by President Jammeh's regime to mislead the nation that he was 
at large even though he had been arrested by 7.30pm on Tuesday 15th November, 
2005. Such an act is very irresponsible and constitutes an abuse of office. The 
ploy will however not work.
  The interest of NADD is to have a clean sweep at the 2006 polls. But the 
conduct of the President is yet to convince the Gambian public that he is 
interested in a peaceful, free and fair election. On the contrary, the 
indications are that he is interested in an election ridden by violence, 
intimidation, chaos and confusion. The unwillingness of the APRC to sign the 
Memorandum of Understanding between political parties in The Gambia initiated by 
General Abubakar former Head of State of Nigeria on behalf of the Commonwealth 
is a living testimony to this.
  The arrest and detention of these three persons runs contrary to the letter 
and spirit of the Memorandum of Understanding. These arrests and detention are 
politically motivated and signs of what is in store for the Opposition in the 
run-up to the 2006 Presidential Elections.
  We demand the immediate release of the three NAAD Executive Members whose 
continued detention is without justification. Their continued detention is 
unacceptable.



---------------------------------
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