Distressed Mother Pleads for Son's Release  

The Independent (Banjul)  
August 27, 2001  
Posted to the web August 27, 2001  

By Omar Bah & Malick Kijera
Banjul, the Gambia  

Ya Fatou Saidy, the 78 year-old mother of Momodou Dumo Saho, together with his colleagues at Boka Loho Vocational and Skills Training Centre have appealed to President Yahya Jammeh for his release, describing him as the only one taking care of the family.  
Dumo was one of five people detained in June 2000 for being suspected of trying to overthrow the government. They were allegedly held incommunicado for over three months, with neither the police nor any other security agency acknowledging their detention.  
Ya Fatou who is in a desperate condition said that she is almost ostracised by many of those who were friends of Dumo. She revealed that she is always lonely with her grandson and as a result, she is always thinking and crying. "Most of his friends have now disappeared and very few of them even come to visit me nowadays. This seems to me, as he is no more in this world. Let me just hear the name "Modou", then my tears will begin to roll," she emotionally told our reporter.  
She also told The Independent that she had never seen anywhere in the world where someone would be detained for almost three months incommunicado and for all this long without a trial.  
Ya Fatou said although she now sees Dumo on her frequent visits to Mile 2 Prisons, she would only be satisfied if the state would unconditionally drop all charges and release her son. "Ask all those who knew me before and compare my physical condition now. I am really appealing to the government to release my son for me," she requested.  
In his turn, the principal of Boka Loho Vocational and Skills Training Centre in which Dumo is a co-founder Babucarr Sinayoko has also issued a statement appealing to the government to release Dumo. Speaking to The Independent in an exclusive interview, Mr. Sinayoko stated that since the arrest of Dumo, the staff of the school and students have been very much concerned about the situation. He said the school together with Dumo's wife Annika Maria Reinberg have since his arrest been tirelessly consulting legal practitioners.  
According to him, they have also been writing a lot of petitions to the president, pleading with him to release Dumo. He said all the petitions, which were spearheaded by Mrs. Reinberg received signatories from different quarters of the country, the first of which he said, was signed by approximately 1,500 signatories.  
The principal added that although he visits Dumo in the prisons almost twice every week, he was still not satisfied with the situation. "You know prison is a place where nobody likes. So that place is not desirable for him," he charged.  
Mr. Sinayoko further stated that he could remember when the High Court judge, Justice Mam Yassin Sey ruled that Dumo's continuous detention was unconstitutional, when he was held incommunicado for about three months.  
"What we are pleading for the government to do is to see to it that the case is either speedily done or they release him unconditionally so that he can join us," said Mr. Sinayoko.  
He added that Dumo's activeness in the school's coordination is totally indispensable as far as the running of the school is concerned.  
Asked what further steps they are going to take pertaining to Dumo's case, he said "we will continue to write more and more petitions to the president as it is the only step we can take, to remind them of our school's proprietor. I know that he is a very straightforward and encouraging man in the institution. Since the inception of the institution, we have graduated almost four batches of students, most of whom have obtained jobs. So we would really need him back to contribute his quota in national development." Get more from the Web.  FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com

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