They are trying desperately hard but even the devil
himself cannot hide the fact about the wicked butchery
of Apr. 10th and 11th.
How anyone can use flimsy legal and technical
arguments to cover up such a nasty act and then drink
a glass of water and go to bed is beyond my
understanding.
I believe there is God and that the truth will one day
come out. I would love to see their lying mouths on
that day.
Our country deserves to be ruled by men of coincience.
--- Pasamba Jow <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
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<H2 class=story-dateline>This a clearer one than the
one sent earlier.</H2>
<P class=story-dateline> </P>
<P class=story-writer>Alhagie Mbye<BR>Banjul </P>
<P class=story-body>The Government of President Yahya
Jammeh has emphatically rejected recommendations made
by the Commission of Inquiry into the April 10 and11
student demonstrations and the findings of Coroner's
Inquest into the fatal shootings. The government
refused to accept the Commission and Coroner's
findings and recommendations that top police officers
on the ground at Kanifing on the morning of the fatal
shootings should accept responsibility for the
tragedy.</P>
<P class=story-body>In a press briefing on Friday, the
Attorney General and Secretary of State for Justice,
Pap Cheyassin Secka, announced government's reaction
to the report.</P>
<P class=story-body>In a statement to the press, Mr.
Secka said the first fundamental point regarding
governments rejection of the findings 'is that the
Commission did not inquire into the causes of the
breakdown of public order on 10th and 11th April
2000', which he said, should have been its fundamental
point of departure. The Commission's failure to do so,
he argued, deprived it of the opportunity to address
such a fundamental point.</P>
<P class=story-body>He said the alleged torture to
death of student Ebrima Barry by Brikama fire officers
and the alleged rape of a girl-child called Binta
Manneh by an unidentified security officer, have been
given as reasons for the public disorder but added
that 'it must be appreciated that no evidence was put
before the Commission to warrant the unfair and false
allegation that there was any attempt at
cover-up.'</P>
<P class=story-body>Mr. Secka maintained that
everything humanly possible had been done to ascertain
the primary facts regarding the alleged rape by a
security officer in uniform to no avail. He said 'all
security officers on duty were paraded but Binta
Manneh could not identify her assailant. No medical
report was produced. There is in fact, as yet, no
certainty that she was rapped, when and where.' In an
apparent attempt at shifting the blame to the press,
Secretary Secka said government regretted the
Commission's failure to examine how the two
'ostensible causes' were reported in the press, and to
what extent that led to the breakdown of public order.
He added that government also regretted the
Commission's failure to examine the efforts exerted
by, among others, officials of the departments of
state for the Interior and Religious Affairs and
Education, as according to him, this would have shown
beyond the shadow of a doubt 'that government had done
everything possible to resolve the issue, and had
indeed every right to expect that its efforts would
resolve the issues amicably.'</P>
<P class=story-body>The Attorney General also argued
that the Commission's failure to enquire into the
causes of the event (as opposed to the event itself)
deprived it of the opportunity to consider the fact
that student meetings leading up to April 10 were held
in secret and the intention could only have been to
catch the security forces unawares. Inquiring into the
causes, he argued, 'would have enabled the Commission
to assist the government in determining that the
destruction to property to the tune of D16, 017,137.50
in two days can only be the result of a well-planned
and well executed operation.' He further argued that
such an enquiry would have brought into light 'the
fact that the Inspector General of Police was willing
to provide the students with police escort to stage a
peaceful march if only they would apply for a permit,
which they never did.' He disclosed that due to such
reasons, 'the Gambia government has no difficulty
associating itself with the recommendations, but
declines to press any charges' for reasons better
addressed in its general conclusions.</P>
<P class=story-body>On the findings of the Coroner's
Inquest, before which eyewitness accounts were given
and recorded, Justice secretary Secka claimed that the
Coroner did not state any opinion as to the commission
or non-commission of a crime or crimes by any persons,
known or unknown, adding that the Chief Justice,
having examined the records of the Coroner under S. 10
of CAP 7:04, must be deigned to have satisfied himself
as to the correctness, legality or propriety of the
findings and verdict.</P>
<P class=story-body>He exonerated Interior Secretary
Ousman Badjie by stating that 'the refusal by students
to comply with lawful orders by the minister to calm
down and to move to the GTTI premises, constituted a
defiance to constituted authority and posed a definite
threat to life, property and national security which
the security forces must respect.'</P>
<P class=story-body>Justice secretary Secka who
immediately after reading his statement walked out of
the press briefing without answering any questions
from journalists, concluded that 'while government
does not agree with all the recommendations of the
commission of inquiry and the Coroner's report, the
government nevertheless appreciates the hard work and
dedication put in by both the commission's members and
the Coroner</P><br clear=all><hr>Get your FREE
download of MSN Explorer at <a
href="http://explorer.msn.com">http://explorer.msn.com</a><br></p></html>
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