COURTESY OF THE INDEPENDENT

A local imam has been the first religious leader to speak out against the
recently passed indemnity bill, saying it is against the concept of justice
in Islam. The Imam of the Kanifing East mosque Baba Lee condemned the bill
passed by the National Assembly, describing it as "unjust and against the
principles and teachings of Islam". Speaking during his Hutba last Friday,
Imam Lee minced no words as he criticised the idea of indemnifying those
among the security forces who opened fire and killed demonstrating students
as they took to the streets last year.

In a particularly fierce sermon Imam Lee accused members of the National
Assembly who voted in the bill of going against the principles of justice
and fair play as known to Islam especially as it was meant to indemnify
those who as he put it committed crimes against humanity. Therefore he
argued that the National Assembly members should never have subscribed to
the idea of passing an act, which he considers notorious and anti-Islam.

"They are supposed to represent the interests of the people rather than
their own personal interests or follow the dictates of an individual to do
anything that goes against the interest of the country" he charged. He said
the principles of Islam, which forbade the protection of criminals from
punishment, are quite incompatible with the intent of the bill and therefore
unacceptable to a majority of Gambians. Quoting the Hadiths, Imam Lee said,
"anyone who protects those who commit crimes will not be spared from the
punishment reserved for criminals".

"According to the Hadiths, loving one's country is a religious obligation
whilst doing anything bad against one's country tantamount to going against
the teachings of Islam," he said. He added that as religious leaders, imams
also have a stake in every aspect of life including politics. "While the
National Assembly members have immunity in the National Assembly to say
anything they want, we the imams also have immunity in our mosques to say
anything that the Almighty Allah commands us to say," he remarked. Imam Lee
went on, "those who committed crimes against the people could only be
indemnified by those against whom they committed those crimes but not by a
bill or anyone else".

Therefore he said those people should know that no matter how long it takes,
they would still get punished for those crimes. He gave an example of the
former Chadian leader Hissene Habre who he said was recently expelled from
Senegal because of crimes he allegedly committed against his people while in
power several years ago. He believes that as a result of his allegedly
brutal rule no country he said is willing to accept the former Chadian
leader. "Therefore, you can run but you can never escape punishment for the
crimes you committed against the people," he warned, adding that no
indemnity bill would be able to protect those who committed crimes against
the Gambian people.

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