Joe:

This is frightening and it should be condemned.  I hope Buya succeeds.

There is one thing that is frustrating me.  A while back you published a tentative meeting on a coalition summit.  I have not heard anything in the works.  Can you please let us know whether this will take place?

I hope I am wrong, but I sense division and mistrust.  We cannot succeed if we are unwilling to accept opinions from others.   I fully agree and advocate that the oppsiiton coalition has to be inclusive.  We cannot afford miscommunicating our efforts.   This should be a collective effort on our part.

People will not be willing to contribute for the opposition if they are not given the opportunity to agree and disagree.  Many have stated to me that they are unwilling to contribute because they sense a feeling that only a selected few is involved in making decisions.  If this is true, it will be the biggest blunder on our part.  If we seek democracy in the Gambia, we must seek democracy in formulating a coalition.  This effort should not be done by a few.

I have identified almost 20 Gambians in Raleigh who are willing to contribute locally, but are unwilling to contribute centrally.  They want to be heard and also meet with the oppostion upon their visits to the U.S.  We hope we can help.

We do not also support the idea of putting any member visiting the U.S. in a hotel.  We feel that since we are scarce of cash, we will be wasting needed money by paying hotel bills for our visitors.  We advocate that those visiting stay with Gambians and get to know them.

Naphiyo,
Comrade ML Jassey-Conteh
-------Original Message-------
From: Joe Sambou <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 08/14/03 02:21 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Independent Reporter Assaulted

>
> Folks, these thugs are going to try to intimidate the independent press and
we the people should not tolerate this thuggry.  Everyone is game for
them.
However, we cannot be intimidated and they know that.  If this is what is
their strategy, then they better be ready to attack all of us, which will
help them out of their misery.  We shall continue to expose their
criminality.  Please read on.

Independent Reporter Assaulted


The Independent (Banjul)

August 14, 2003
Posted to the web August 14, 2003

Banjul

Buya Jammeh, a reporter with The Independent and a DJ at Radio One FM was
allegedly assaulted last Saturday by two police officers, stationed as
guards at the Chinese Embassy just two blocks away from the paper's
office.

Buya, who was lamenting his encounter with the officers, said he was on
his
way to Radio One when the two officers stopped him and demanded a search
on
a handbag he was carrying.

"They said they suspected that I was carrying something in my bag and
demanded that I must therefore be searched," he narrated, adding that in
the
process of forcibly confiscating the bag it got torn and its contents,
including audio cassettes, CDs and a headphone were strewn on the ground.

"They threatened to detain me until the morning," he recalled adding that
his resistance resulted in a slap on his face, followed by other forms of
physical brutality. "One of them even removed his uniform and threatened
to
fight me," said Buya who said he is poised to take up the matter with the
police.

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