Sana Sabally, the former vice chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council, AFPRC, yesterday walked out of the Mile 2 Central Prisons east gate at 10:58hrs a free man after serving a nine-year sentence for treason. Speaking to Daily Observer at the gate of the prison, the former Army captain who has gained some pounds, sporting a clean shave, dressed in jeans and russet coloured T-shirt, said his freedom was “a work of God. I thank God, the Almighty for everything He has done for me. I forgive and forget everybody for what had happened. Let the past be the past. I don’t want to even talk about what has happened. It is not important to even talk about the past.” Speaking from behind his hallmark shades, Sana Sabally said, “I called on all Gambians to work towards the progress of the country. The Gambia belongs to everybody. I am happy that God has answered our prayers. I have come out of the prisons in hale and hearty. I regretted nothing. I am not even worried about the incarceration for the love of our dear country. I have decided to forget, forgive and overlook everything with kindness, prayers and good will. And Allah knows best what is in my heart. I take everything in good faith for it all come from the Almighty Allah, the Supreme Ruler of the heavens and the earth. My reaction is, I have since forgotten everything. So, Allah help me. I will not, and will never allow a dark past to cloud a brighter future,” Captain Sabally said. He then quoted verses 26 and 27 of the Qur’anic chapter Ali Imran (the Family of Imran) which state, “Say, O Allah, Owner of sovereignty, You give sovereignty to whom You will and You take sovereignty away from whom You will. You honour whom You will and You humble whom You will. In Your hand is (all) good. Indeed, You are over all things competent. You cause the night to enter the day, and You cause the day to enter the night, and You bring the living out of the dead, and You bring the dead out of the living. And You give provision to whom You will without limit or measure.” Sabally, who must have dedicated the long months of his incarceration to studying the scriptures, also quoted from verses 22 and 23 of surah al-Hadeed (The Iron) which state, “No disaster strikes upon the earth or among yourselves except that it is in a register before We bring it into being, indeed that, for Allah, is easy.” He also quoted verse 51 of surah Tawba (Repentance) which state, “Never will We be struck except by what Allah has decreed for us; He is our protector. And upon Allah let the believers rely,” He then quoted verse 56 of surah Hud which state, “Indeed, I have relied upon Allah, my Lord and your Lord. There is no creature but that He holds its forelock (ie, control it). Indeed, my Lord is on a path that is straight... Captain Sabally then referred to the book of Ecclesiastes, verse 1, chapter 3 which states, “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” He further quoted verses 8 and 9, chapter 7 of Ecclesiastes which state, “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry for anger reseth in the bosom of fools.” After these marathon quotations from the scriptures, Captain Sabally joined his wife in the back of the red mini Ford belonging to his friend, Saikou B Jarju of Gamstar and drove away to his wife’s home in Bakoteh before proceeding to his family home in Brikama. He was received at the prison gate by members of his close family. Sabally (seated right) with Chairman Jammeh, Touray, Singhatey, Haidara during the early days Captain Sabally, together with fellow AFPRC member Sadibou Haidara were arrested on Friday, January 27, 1995 inside State House, put on board a green Mitsubishi pick-up and taken to Mile 2 prisons. That evening, the Government released a press statement explaining that Sabally and Haidara, on that Friday morning forced their way into the office of Chairman Jammeh in an attempt to seize power “but the attempt was foiled and the captains as well as the men who accompanied them were arrested and put into custody.” According to the statement, the two captains had opposed the recommendations for an earlier handover to civilian rule and consequently their attempt to seize power was the direct result of the two men’s opposition to the progress being made towards civilian rule in accordance with Council’s programme and timetable, particularly the appointment and work of the National Consultative Committee, NCC. The NCC which was set up to review the AFRPC’s timetable had recommended that the AFPRC return power after 24 months from July 22, 1994, and that Council should also consider appointing an interim government headed by a civilian prime minister, with Captain Jammeh remaining as head of state. But when the content of the NCC report became known to the two captains, they vowed to get rid of some unspecified people, the statement said. According to the statement, “It was against this background that the two captains armed with pistols, attempted to kill Chairman Jammeh, but were neutralised,” the statement said. Captain Sabally and Haidara were then dismissed from the Council and from their cabinet posts and court martialled. Captain Haidara died in prison in March 1995, two months after their detention, officially due to high blood pressure. The court martial found Captain Sabally guilty of treason a year later and he was duly sentenced. However, those who visited him or kept correspondence with him during his years of imprisonment said he has undergone a spiritual and mental rebirth and was of flawless character and outward disposition. © Copyright 2003 by Observer Company __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free web site building tool. Try it! http://webhosting.yahoo.com/ps/sb/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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] To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~