Former Secretary General and head of the Civil Service Momodou Sabally is scheduled to appear in court today Tuesday October 14th, after more than two and half months in custody. Mr. Sabally was charged with economic crimes and abuse of office while serving as secretary general causing an economic loss to Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation (SSHFC) to the tune of over D400,000 by unduly influencing the corporation to fund a program for Youth Development which was organized by one Mariama Sillah without proper authorization. He denied all charges.
He was arraigned in court on August 12, 2014 before Justice Abdullahi Mikailu who refused to grant him bail and ordered him detained with the NIA until Oct 14 for a hearing. Sabally at the time was not represented by any lawyer and it is not yet known if his family has secured a legal representative for him. Sabally allegedly was detained in an insanitary confinement at the notorious NIA headquarters where citizens have allegedly been tortured and left at the mercy of mosquitoes.
It was not clear why the judge ordered Sabally detained for more than two months without bail since Sabally’s crimes are not a threat to state security which will normally carry a treasonable charge. Many political observers believe that Sabally’s long detention without bail in violation of his constitutional rights is a pattern the Jammeh administration has consistently engaged in. Detaining citizens without access to legal representation, family or granting them bail is a clear contradiction of constitutional provisions which dictates that all accused citizens are innocent until proven guilty. It is however, not new for this government to simply order the detention and in many occasions allegedly torture citizens while in detention.
Young Sabally’s case is not a surprise as several previous government officials who occupied high profile positions have faced similar fate. Sabally followed their foot steps in aggressively defending the Jammeh government and along the way became as arrogant as the Jammeh system has manifested for several years. He is appearing in court at a time when the high court in Banjul is short of judges and the whole judiciary is experiencing low morale due to frequent removal of judges and magistrates. Sabally’s case is yet another test of how the high court handles high profile cases free of government interference. Recent court acquittals showed signs of hope until when former Finance Minister was ordered arrested again after he was freed by the courts. Gainako has deployed our reporters and will bring readers the update on Sabally’s fate.