The recent abduction and torture of the Independent journalist by NIA thugs
is yet another evidence of the fact that Yaya and his cohorts are a big risk
to our national security. Contrary to what Opposition detractors say, it is
these types of behavior (and NOT the reporting thereof) that put our country
in jeopardy. The international community looks at these types of things in
order to decide whether to deal with Gambia in a friendly manner or not.
Whether journalists in the country or opponents on the ground or in the
Diaspora report these atrocities, is irrelevant. What is relevant is that
these heinous acts should NEVER happen in our country.

It is a sad state of affairs to make a commentary to the effect that what
happened to Mbye has happened before during the tenure of the AFPRC/APRC
regime and will happen again so long as Yaya is in power. What happened to
Mbye is the same thing that happened to Dumo et al. Innocent citizens
abducted from the ‘safety’ of their homes and illogically incarcerated for
crimes they did NOT commit.

For future reference (because I am confident some else will soon be
kidnapped by NIA thugs), I hope people paid particular attention to Mbye’s
rendition of the facts. APRC sycophants need not pay attention. They can be
my guest and continue pretending that all is well in the country and Mbye
was never abducted or that he deserved what he got. But innocent and
defenseless law-abiding citizens that do NOT go around singing APRC praises
at every opportunity, should watch their backs. Those citizens should ensure
that whenever they are abducted, their family and friends take note of who
is doing the abduction. It is arguable that had no one witnessed Mbye being
kidnapped, by now we would be writing his obituary. Like Koro Ceesay, he
would have been shot and his corpse burned. So, lesson one, families and
friends of ‘abductees’ should pay attention to people abducting their loved
ones. Like Ebou Colly counseled some time back, it is foolhardy to fight
them with their guns when they outnumber you. But there are other things one
can do to safeguard one’s life.

Lesson two, PUBLICIZE the kidnapping. Dumo’s wife did a tremendous job
informing the whole world about the victims’ plight. In Mbye’s case, the
independent media in the country also did a great job publicizing Mbye’s
plight. The publicity might have saved these people’s lives.

Going to the courts is also a further extension of this publicity. I can say
that the major difference between Mbye’s case and Dumo’s is the
effectiveness of the courts in the former case. It was a powerful move on
the part of Mbye’s lawyers to raise the ‘Contempt of court’ issue in this
case. This is NOT a knock on Dumo’s lawyers. I recognize that they were
dealing with different judges and prosecutors and before they had time to do
anything Pap Cheyassin Secka went through the back door to file bogus
charges.

But in future, I sincerely hope that advocates of these defenseless citizens
will be as aggressive as Mbye’s lawyer was in this case. When Joseph Joof
and his cohorts at the AG Chambers and the NIA realized that they were
looking at a showdown that could land some of them in jail, they released
the prisoner; albeit reluctantly. The prosecutors in the country are
constantly holding the courts in contempt. The bottom line is that these
people cannot defend the indefensible. How many times have we recorded here
instances where AG Chambers were supposed to show up in court or file papers
and they never did? There is complete lawlessness in the country. Judges can
solve that problem like they shown in this case. But they will NOT do it
willingly. Victims’ advocates in the country should force the judges to
apply the law. If Joseph Joof sends his prosecutors to court to lie to the
judges, ask the judges to cite them for contempt and throw them in jail.

If NIA abduct someone and incarcerate him illegally, ask that the folks at
NIA be arrested and thrown in jail. It might not happen. But it shows the
whole world that we have a Dictatorship back home being helped by an
impotent judiciary. This in turn forces the government to do the right thing
because they want international help. But it should not stop at forcing NIA
to release innocent citizens. Civil suits should be brought against the
people responsible for the illegal incarcerations that do NOT result in
criminal charges being filed by the government.

For instance, in this case, the person that orchestrated the abduction has
to be held responsible. There are named government functionaries that were
apparently miffed by Mbye’s story in West Africa magazine. Did they order
the NIA to abduct Mbye? In other words, Fatoumatta Jahumpa need to come out
and clarify whether she had a role to play in this latest atrocity from the
NIA. People have to be accountable for their actions. If journalists print
false stories, there are ways and means (sanctioned by our laws) to take
care of that problem. No citizen should take the laws into his/her hands and
order the abduction and illegal incarceration of journalists.

This blatant lawlessness will attract sanctions for our country. When that
happens, APRC apologists will blame the victims and the press for
publicizing the atrocity. They will NEVER stop to blame the NIA for (in the
first place) engaging in this unadulterated thuggery.
KB


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