NEWS  Sidia Jatta Breaks the Silence - Rules out Demonstration as he Untangled "Jammeh's Ploys to Kill the Opposition"  By Bubacarr Ceesay

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

November 26, 2005
 Founding member of The People's Democratic Organization for Independence and Socialism party, PDOI's Sedia Jatta, has accused the Jammeh administration of trying to provoke the opposition to take to the streets, in a bid to shoot and kill its supporters. Mr. Jatta, in his first public statement since the detention of his colleagues Mssers, Halifa Sallah, Hamat NK Bah and Omar Amadou Jallow charged that the Jammeh government is bent on inciting trouble in the tiny West African country.

Evil Fantasy

Responding to a question as to why NADD was yet to stage a protest demonstration and demand for the unconditional release of the detained leaders, Hon. Jatta, who is also a senior Executive member of NADD said they were aware of the government's moves to strike on the opposition in the event of a public demonstration.

"The sole aim of the Jammeh government is to draw NADD into falling into their ploy. They're trying hard to provoke us into taking to the streets and then shoot at our supporters, then turn around and shift the blame on the opposition as they did in April 10th and 11th, 2000" said Mr. Jatta. The outspoken politician, who is a long time friend and associate of Halifa Sallah categorically, stated that they will not fall into such a ploy, as their "objectives will not be realized in taking to the streets".

The Wuli MP says the issue of demonstration is put on hold for now adding that "We will not demonstrate, as long as we've not exhausted the legal means in the courts, notwithstanding we're prepared and ready to demand for the freedom of our colleagues".
Mr. Jatta's comments followed concerns raised by Gambians within and outside the country over his silence on the arrest of Halifa and others. Some even went to the point of criticizing him for failing to publicly condemn the illegal arrest of his colleagues, when NADD leaders such as Lamin Waa Juwara and Ousainou Darboe have condemned such arrests.

Clarifying what led to his silence, Sedia said he was on visit to his constituency in Wuli at the time of the arrest of his long time friend and associate Halifa and others. Mr. Jatta also added that NADD had rules and regulations governing the party and as such there is a spokesman assigned to handle such issues. He says the detained NADD coordinator Halifa Sallah, was assigned with such responsibilities, even though he is in jail on a wrong cause. The Wuli veteran politician also blamed his silence to lack of reliable communication in the rural areas.

The three term Wuli parliamentarian rubbishes claims made by the state that his colleagues were engaged in alleged subversive activities. He describes such indictments as grossly misleading and unfounded. He told this paper that there was not an iota of truth in such charges against Hamat, Halifa and OJ.

A Questionable Judge

On the court case proceedings, he elaborated that their lawyers are handling well the cases and that they're pursuing three arguments to start with: i. a change of judge - "Justice Paul" whom he described as doubtable, that the judge had some bitterness with one of the defendants, Hamat Bah, who made some damaging revelations against him in the National Assembly. ii. Bail issue - he stated that there is no justification to deny bail to the detainees. iii. Reducing the period for next hearing, instead of the 14th and 19th of December for Halifa/OJ, and Hamat respectively.

When further queried as to what NADD will do should the state maintain their stand to keep Justice Paul as the presiding judge in the case; Sedia retorted that "there is no where on earth where you can force a judge on people if they have doubts about his impartiality to dispense justice". That he said will be totally unacceptable.

Commenting on allegations that the opposition were behind the border impasse debacle between the Gambia and Senegal, Sidia describes such wild charges against the opposition as not only "misplaced, but totally outrageous." He says there was no grain of truth in such allegations. "In fact, NADD have written to the Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, with demands for a clarification from his end".

The honorable Member of Parliament accuses the Jammeh government of derailing NAD'S efforts to effect democratic change in The Gambia. He added that no amount of intimidation and distractive tactics will stop them from carrying on with their aims and objectives. He hinted about a planned NADD launching rally in Brikama, which was scheduled for this Sunday was canceled as a result of the arrest of Halifa and others.

Hon. Jatta expresses surprise at the lack of international condemnation of the illegal and politically motivated arrests of the three opposition leaders. He particularly expressed concern over the lack of reactions from the commonwealth, the African Union and ECOWAS on such troubling developments in the Gambia. He said that he was only aware of the petition letter sent to the Gambia government by an American Congress woman Betty McColloum, and none whatsoever from any other international body.

Meanwhile, Sedia confirmed that the wives of the three political detainees have been granted access to see their husbands in jail. He says Sam Sarr of the Foroyaa has also visited the detained leaders and reported that the three are in good health, and were in high spirit. "There were no reports of abuse/torture of the detainees" he assured. He pointed out that they're consulting with the secretary of interior on plans for other NADD executive members to visit their colleagues in jail. Mr. Jatta demanded for the unconditional and immediate release of NADD officials.

In a related development, Sidia also warns that the pending 2006 polls might be characterized by violence, just as in the case of the concluded by-elections, in which NADD supporters were harassed in Jarra and Upper Saloum constituencies. He says the election violence were perpetrated by APRC thugs.
                .style1 {FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 9px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; color=000000; text-align:center}

                    Order Your Free Lessons Now!!               Cell bill paid for a year by submitting an EMAIL address!


  Go To Top
---------------------------------
    Copyright © 2004 AllGambian.Net. All Rights Reserved.
---------------------------------



---------------------------------
Yahoo! Messenger  NEW - crystal clear PC to PC calling worldwide with voicemail

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤