Ebrima, thanks for the invaluable job you are doing. Your Source raised some
very pertinent issues. Frankly, I must tell you though that one does NOT
need a degree (let alone a Law degree) to decipher what was going on here.

We had a hustler, Francisco (or whatever his name is) going around abusing
innocent Gambians in order to salvage a failing restaurant business. The man
probably came to the country with 'good' intentions of engaging in the
restaurant business. Because of the sorry state of the country (virtually
nonexistent tourist industry) the man's business woefully failed. The man is
a hustler with limited skills. He does not have the money to finance another
line of business. He does not have the intellectual wherewithal to engage in
other challenging endeavors. All he has is his 'soldiering skills'. The only
thing he can do is 'train' soldiers. That's all. How can he use this
commodity?

He size up our moron (Yaya). He knows the moron is paranoid. Thinks that the
whole country hates him and want to kill him. Francisco knew that if he had
access to Yaya and told Yaya that there were Gambians plotting to remove him
(Yaya), Yaya will take up Francisco as a 'friend' and help him earn money
from the government. The oldest trick in the book. 'Go to an African tyrant,
convince him that people are plotting to kill him, frame some people and if
they have to die, so be it'. The Franciscos of this world know about the
lawlessness in our neck of the woods. Francisco knows that his story will
not be subjected to forensic scrutiny. The only person Francisco needs to
convince is Yaya. Once Yaya says that people are plotting to kill him, no
police officer, lawyer or judge in the country will overturn what Francisco
and Yaya are saying.

This game Francisco played on these people is not without its risks. Had
Francisco picked on someone Yaya was also loyal to, Francisco might have
been the one six feet deep by now. With the help of vermin like Abdoulie
Kujabi and this despicable Ebrima Barrow chap, Francisco was able to target
people that would be easy prey for Yaya. They targeted people they knew Yaya
was not loyal to. Who did they try to draw in this web of deceit? S.M.
Dibba. Waa Juwara. Sam Sillah. Dumo Saho. Alaji Kanteh. Saul Ndow. All these
are people we all know Yaya is not loyal to. Another significant factor is
that Francisco and his patsies knew that these people were not going to run
to Yaya to rat about Francisco in order to save Yaya's skin.

Let us always remember Francisco's goal here. He wants that contract from
the government so that he can salvage his business. His luck struck in May
1999 (according to Barrow; although Dumo's purported statement and the
indictment in this case dates the 'conspiracy' back to March 1999). Right
here the government has some explaining to do. If you remember months ago
when the charges first came out, I told people to watch these dates. They
are very important. The government has to prove (beyond a reasonable doubt)
everything that is stated in their papers they filed in court.

In any case, Francisco found a perfect prey in Ebrima Barrow. Although I
have not received all the information I need about Barrow, I am almost
certain that he gave his statement willingly. There are no tell-tale signs
of coercion as far as Barrow is concerned. As I said yesterday, if one looks
at Barrow's statement carefully, one will see that Barrow did not implicate
himself in anyway as far as the charges before the courts are concerned.
Barrow might have been guilty of something (according to his Cautionary
Statement), but he is NOT currently charged with that crime. However, it
could also be argued that Barrow was coerced by the NIA to lie about Dumo et
al. Well, we will find out soon. But the reason I call Barrow despicable and
the reason I do not care if the vermin rots in Hell is that, why on earth
would he go to unsuspecting Gambians (like Yarbo who looked up to this
vermin) to abuse them for the benefit of this foreigner (Francisco)? This is
the real quarrel I have with Barrow. He was putting unsuspecting and
innocent people in the line fire. I would be madder if I find out later that
Barrow did not stop at setting these people up, but he also lied in his
Cautionary Statement about life and dead issues.

Barrow clearly told some lies. I do not for one moment think that he was
telling the truth when he said that Dumo and Saul Ndow asked him and
Francisco to get them arms. I do not know Dumo personally. I do not know
Saul Ndow personally too. But I know of Saul Ndow. Anybody that knows Saul
would laugh at the idea that Saul will just meet someone like Barrow and
decide to plot with them to overthrow the government. Saul is lot smarter
than that. Lot more cynical than that. This man would not part with money
that easily. Barrow must not know Saul very well or else he would not peddle
such a ridiculous story about Saul Ndow.

Barrow also never explained the real reason why Francisco wanted to purchase
AK-47 guns even before Francisco ever met Dumo and Saul Ndow. Barrow took
Francisco to Momodou Marenah (another unsuspecting victim) inquiring about
buying guns. According to Barrow, Francisco wanted to use the guns to
overthrow the government. How ridiculous can it get? Apparently, Francisco
looked at the situation and realizes that Marenah was not a prize big enough
for Yaya to grant him (Francisco) the contract he wanted. As far as Yarbo
was concerned, I believe Francisco was trying to enter into a genuine
business transaction with Yarbo. I believed Francisco genuinely wanted to
purchase a gas gun for his protection. Problem is, the hustler does not have
money. Unfortunately for Yarbo, the NIA thugs were simply rounding up
everyone that was uttered by Francisco and Yaya and his cohorts knew that
that person was dispensable. They knew that although Francisco mentioned
S.M. Dibba, Waa Juwara and Sam Sillah, if these people were arrested, all
hell will break lose. Why not arrest defenseless non-politicians like
Jaiteh, Marenah, Yarbo and Dumo. These people do not have constituents to
fight for them.

Going back to Francisco and Barrow. The despicable duo realized that
Marenah, Yarbo and the street peddlers were not attractive enough for Yaya.
They probably learnt that from Abdoulie Kujabi. So the duo set off to
implicate other more 'attractive' Gambians. We all know how they woefully
failed to put Dibba, Juwara and Sillah on the chopping block. By the time
the vermin went to Dumo, they have learnt from their failures with Dibba and
Juwara. They somewhat perfected their craft. This time around instead of
going straight to talk about politics and taking over the government, they
will talk about Francisco's restaurant and establish a rapport with their
unsuspecting victims. That way if they are seen meeting with these victims,
that will add credence to their story later on that they were plotting to
hatch a coup.

So the goof-ball (stolen from Saul Khan) went to Dumo to talk about helping
his friend Francisco. Do we realize here that the story taken to Dumo could
not have gone to Dibba or Waa Juwara? The latter are not businessmen that
can help salvage a restaurant. To get their attention one has to talk about
politics. Barrow confirms this supposition when he spoke about Sam Sillah.
When their ploy worked with Dumo, they wanted to take that to Sillah. Sillah
is a politician too. You start talking about restaurants, he sends you
packing. Notice how Barrow said that their encounter with Sillah was in
'vain'? Back to Dumo. Dumo is a philanthropist that will not hesitate to
help anyone in need if he can do so. Barrow approaches him with the
restaurant problem. Dumo knows that Saul Ndow is a businessman. He hooks
Saul up with Francisco. That is all. The reason I believe Dumo's statement
was 'beaten' out of him was, I am pretty certain a man in Dumo's league will
never meet someone less than twice in his life and start plotting with that
person to overthrow a government. I do not believe Dumo discussed arms with
Francisco or Barrow. It simply does not make sense to me. Again if you know
Saul Ndow, you will know that the exact opposite is more likely. Saul knows
the Sub-region very well. What is more plausible is that Saul would ask
Francisco for money to go to say Liberia or Sierra Leone to procure arms. To
me, that is more likely that Saul giving money to Francisco to buy arms for
Saul. This is laughable. I will hasten to add though that I am by no means
suggesting that Saul is an arms dealer or a terrorist like Baabaa Jobe. All
I am saying is that Saul has 'contacts' in the Sub-region.

Obviously, Saul will not ask Francisco for money to buy arms. Saul knew
Francisco was broke. After all that is why they went to see him. The hustler
does not have money and wants a contract from Yaya. You take away Dumo's
statement that Francisco brought  up the issue of purchasing arms, and all
you are left with is Barrow's lies and the lies obviously told by Francisco
(remember Francisco was part of the contingent that arrested Marenah even
before Dumo was arrested). Both Francisco and Barrow are highly unreliable.
Most of what they have to say will be hearsay and would not stand up in
court. For instance, Barrow cannot testify that Saul Ndow and Dumo SAID that
they wanted to overthrow the government and rely on that statement to prove
that Dumo and Saul actually said that. No judge worth his salt will allow
this form of blatant hearsay and lies.

Ebrima, the whole government case hinges on the lies of Barrow and
corroboration from Francisco. We need not even go into the nitty-gritty of
the offenses these innocent citizens have been charged with. It is clear
that the flimsy evidence the government has does not begin to off-load the
onerous burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. It is a mockery to the
rule of law to charge people with attempting to overthrow a government
simply because they met with an Italian hustler to discuss the affairs of
his failing restaurant business. It is a mockery to our law books to charge
people with conspiracy to overthrow a government simply because there is
some hustler like Francisco and a moron like Barrow who can say that they
have dealings with those individuals. The dealings Francisco and Barrow had
with those individuals were independent of each other. There is no evidence
Dumo ever spoke to Kanteh or Marenah or Jaiteh. There is no evidence that
Yarbo ever spoke to Saul Ndow or Kanteh or Dumo. To charge these citizens
with conspiracy because Barrow SAYS that he had dealings with each and
everyone of them on different occasions, is simply preposterous.

I will also not get into the issue about entrapment. Reason? I do not
believe Dumo et al committed an offense in the first place. There is no need
to bring up the defense of entrapment. But suffice for me to say that the
government cannot make these charges stick if the only reason they exist in
the first place is because Francisco went out aggressively to make these
people to commit a crime. If this whole plot was Francisco's idea (which I
believe to be the case) and left to Dumo et al no one would have thought of
this 'conspiracy', then the government cannot rely on Francisco in order to
nail these citizens. Clearly none of these citizens went to Francisco.
Francisco and Barrow came to them. If these charges are allowed to stick,
then I pity the whole country. Now, apparently the only thing it will take
for someone to be convicted with treason is for a hustler to lie about you
and have another liar 'corroborate' his lies. No need for physical evidence.
No need to prove that the 'facts' add up.

But knowing our courts and the way this case has been handled so far, people
should not be surprised if Dumo et al are railroaded. The prosecutors like
Wowo are corrupt. The judges are scared. The NIA are ruthless. The general
public is indifferent. Recipe for lawlessness. Yaya and Francisco can pick
out any Gambian and frame you. That is why the public should NOT be
indifferent. As I keep saying, the government has significantly lowered the
threshold for all of us. Now it takes very little to abduct citizens, jail
them, torture them and murder them.

Frankly, if I were family and friend to Dumo et al, I will put out a
'contract' on that Francisco character. This is war. Now that the man's
treachery is out in the open thanks to your Sources, he needs to be taken
on. Left to the vermin alone, Dumo et al might as well fry. Why should we
not feel the same about the little Italian rat? For the sake of a contract
to 'train' soldiers and save his restaurant, he is willing to sacrifice our
Gambian brothers. Let's hate him back. For the sake of our brothers, let us
be willing to sacrifice the vermin. With Francisco out of the way, we are
just dealing with Barrow's lies. Like I said yesterday, Barrow's lies will
allow a truck to be driven through it. This is pathetic. An Italian rat
coming to our country and going to arrest citizens with our own soldiers.
Yaya, we all know is after self-preservation. The vermin will sacrifice his
own mother to stay in power. To collaborate with an Italian and sacrifice
his own ADC, is a piece of cake for the vermin. Why Barrow would sacrifice
his own Salikene boy for a snake like Francisco, is what I cannot get over.

Ebrima, thanks again for your efforts. This is a sorry state of affairs.
Yaya and his gang of bandits are holding the whole country hostage. I wish
the families and friends of these victims all the best. I hope Mrs. Saho
perseveres in her endeavors. I hope they find solace in the fact that NO
legitimate court will convict their love ones on the basis of these flimsy
evidence. We all know that these people are innocent of these crimes they
are accused of committing. But we also know that we live in a lawless jungle
where might makes right; where lies carry more weight than truth. Dumo et al
will be vindicated. These revelations are a first step towards that
vindication. Now the whole world knows that the government does not have
legs to stand on. The tape your Sources mentioned is a figment of Foday
Barry's imagination. The pathological liar knows that the tape does not
exist. Let them bring the tape out. They are all a bunch of low-lives;
criminals, liars, and in the case of the Italian rat, hustlers.
KB

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