Folks, below is the end result of the handy work of the NIA on Alhaji Mbye.
This is the kind of stuff that Gambians are put through daily. So, it is
inconceivable at this most trying of times for most Gambians, why people
would rush to sympathize with this brutal cartel. Whom ever wants to join
the APRC caravan, it is your right, but this is what you are cosigning. You
can rationalize your new love for the APRC any how you want, however, in the
end you will be seen as supporting these kinds of human rights violations.
You cannot sympathize with both the victim and the victor in this case.
Joe
Culled From The Point
Alhagie Mbye Released, Editor Alleges Torture
The London- based West Africa Magazine Banjul correspondent, Alhagie Mbye,
who is also with the Independent Newspaper, has been released from NIA
custody after spending a week in detention. Mbye, who has been languishing
in custody without access to his colleagues who made several attempts to
reach him, was released yesterday morning.
Speaking to The Point yesterday, Alagi Yerro Jallow, the Managing Editor of
The Independent, alleged that Mbye was subjected to torture while in NIA
custody. “Well, he was tortured physically and mentally. According to him he
was released at 7 O’clock Thursday and dumped beside the NIA headquarters.
“He said he was thrown away beside the NIA headquarters and could not walk,”
Jallow told this paper. According to Yerro Jallow, Mbye was later found
lying by a friend who rushed him to the Kololi clinic for medical check- up.
Reacting to Mbye’s encounter with NIA Managing Editor Jallow said, “I felt
very shocked when I saw him.”
While criticising the NIA for defying the court order which required them to
produce the detained journalist yesterday (Thursday) before the court,
Jallow added that the NIA should respect court orders at all times. “ I will
have confidence in the judiciary. I hope Mbye will appear in court to
narrate his ordeal,” he concluded. Meanwhile, the High Court yesterday
ordered the Attonery- General and Secretary of State for Justice, Joseph
Joof, to produce reporter Alhagie Mbye, latest today (Friday) at 10 am. The
court order follows a non compliance of a court order which required the NIA
Director- General to produce Mbye before the High Court on Thursday. Handing
down his ruling yesterday, High Court Judge Justice A.O. Belgore, expressed
concern over the NIA’s failure to comply with the court order which required
them to produce the detained journalist. “This is not a healthy situation in
a democratic country,” the high court judge observed, while ordering justice
secretary, Joseph Joof, to produce Alhagie Mbye latest today.
Addressing the court at the commencement of the proceedings, senior state
counsel Enoma Osaikhuwu said while he was at the Supreme Court he was
informed by principal state counsel Joseph Wowo that Alhagie Mbye had been
released. “I am dismayed that the applicant is not in court at this moment,”
said state counsel Osaikhuwa, adding that he later went to the NIA but was
told that they were on briefing. He added that he tried to reach the Deputy
NIA Director on his mobile phone without success. At this point the judge
asked, “What was the order?” In response, state counsel Osaikhuwu said, “The
order was to produce Alhajie Mabye.
High Court judge Belgore then retorted by telling Osaikhuwu, “We are in a
democracy where freedom of an individual is cherished,” adding that he would
not sit and watch the court order being flouted. In her address lawyer Amie
Bensouda, who appeared for Alhagie Mbye, said contrary to state counsel
Osaikhuwu’s statement to the court, she believed that Mbye was still not
released. “ We have tried to contact him. He is neither at his home nor at
his work place and somebody else is answering his mobile,” Mrs. Bensouda
told the court.
She added that she was surprised that state counsel Osaikhuwu was making
reference to another state counsel, where there is an Attonery- General whom
she argued is expected to defend and uphold the rule of law. Consequently,
lawyer Bensouda called on the presiding judge to order the NIA Director-
General, Kebba Cessay, to appear in court to show cause as to why he (Mr.
Ceesay) should not be tried for contempt. “ No officer, no matter how high,
are not above the law. The Constitution of this country is supreme and all
officers are duty bound to obey it,” Lawyer Bensouda stated.
_________________________________________________________________
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