Gambia’s Justice Minister Mama Fatima Sighateh Left
By Gainako’s Banjul Correspondent
Judicial sources reaching Gainako overnight has it that Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has given Executive Orders from the State House in Banjul to convict and sentence the leader of the United Democratic Party Lawyer Darboe and members of his party who are being persecuted since April 16th, 2016. The impeccable source close to the Justice Department informed Gainako that the Gambian leader has given the Justice Minister Mama Fatima Sighateh a high level order to inform the Nigerian born presiding Judge Eunice Dada and the DPP to prepare the file for conviction of all April 14 & 16th detainees.
The high profile politically motivated case has created high tension within the country since the arrest and detention of leaders of the main opposition party. The detainees whose leader is a high profile lawyer himself have turned the High Court in Banjul into a drama scene since their lawyers walked out of court last month in protest against the interference of security personnel in disrupting client lawyer privileges. The presiding Judge’s case has almost come to a halt when Darboe and all the detainees refused to participate in what they called “Sham politically motivated trail”.
The impeccable source further indicated that after the conviction of Darboe and co which is likely to be handed down as early as Today Tuesday July 12th, that Mr. Darboe would be taken to the maximum security wing in the country’s notorious Mile II prisons while the others will be housed in the regular prison wings. Darboe was initially detained at the maximum security wing despite him not posing any security threat to the government or the country. Our source further indicated that the Director of prisons has also been informed and the security apparatus have also been put on alert for any reaction to the conviction.
In another related story our source indicated that the 27 civil servants who were arrested last week and alleged of economic crimes have been separated into rich and poor. The highly influencing or rich if you may are currently detained at the NIA headquarters while the rest – the poor detainees are send to Mile II prisons. The source added that this is classic sample of how Gambians are treated as first and second class citizens. The faith of these detainees in appearing in court is yet to be determined as the judiciary in entangled in the high profile political case.
The conviction of Darboe and others would certainly likely come at a huge prize for the Jammeh government as the International community and the entire Gambian nation are tuned in and waiting for what may come of what many regarded as a “sham trial”. Members of the United Democratic Party particularly women have been hitting the streets of Banjul protesting the persecution of Lawyer Darboe and co. Gainako is closely monitoring the highly tense situation and have deployed our reporters to bring you updates both on air on print. Stay tuned as this is a developing story!