Amnesty International has come out in support of the three accused. “In The Gambia,” writes Lisa Sherman Nicholaus, an Amnesty International researcher, “criticizing the government often carries an enormous cost. Forcing political opponents to ‘confess’ to crimes on national television seems to be the latest callous strategy by authorities to prevent anyone from criticizing them.” Any evidence collected under torture must not be admitted in court which is the internationally accepted norm which happens to be also the position of Amnesty International.
The two defendants confessed, one to concocting the story that formed the basis of the affidavit and the other to notarizing the affidavit. They are due for sentencing but not before Amadou Sanneh is due in court. Justice Nkea, meanwhile, denied him bail because of the games he’s played in this case. He made sure the two defendants admit to what they were being accused of after being tortured, but delayed sentencing so that he can justify denying the first defendant bail. He may also refuse to plea bargain with the two even after they cooperated with the prosecution. This legal maneuver is typical, and expected of a judge who has been accused of being in the pocket of the dictator. After all, this is same judge who sentenced a Gambian activist to life imprisonment for distributing T-shirts with the inscription that denounced dictatorship in The Gambia, and who had freed two security officers charged with the torturing to death of a youth caught smoking marijuana. Nkea would not have freed these murderers if they were not part of the security apparatus the state uses to suppress dissent.
This blog has dedicated itself to monitoring the judiciary, particularly the performance of those judges within the system that distinguishes themselves as ‘mercenary judges’, and to bring their behavior and judicial comportment to the attention of the appropriate authorities in their home countries and international organizations that monitor the legal profession. Meanwhile, we take note that 5 judges from the sub-region are presently in Banjul to attend the Supreme Court sittings. We hope that this will be extended to include lower court sittings, particularly the Special Criminal Court headed by Justice Emmanuel Nkea of Cameroon.
Courtesy of http://sidisanneh.blogspot.com/2013/10/justice-emmanuel-nkea-is-eye-of-storm.html