A “pardon” for Imam Baba Leigh is preposterous
nonsense!
 
When news
of Imam Baba Leigh’s (Imam Leigh) release exploded in Gambian communities at
home and abroad, it was greeted with unanimous and justified relief. For
watchers of Gambian public space, curiosity nevertheless centered on how the Imam
Leigh imbroglio would be explained by his abductor, i.e. the state of The
Gambia. The wait wasn't long, and true to form, the state handling of the
affair was astounding in its capriciousness. Or maybe not so astounding as ours
is now a country where the absolutely ridiculous is the new normal! 
 
As if
nothing was ever amiss, Imam Leigh was paraded before the nation in a manner
that exposed his handlers in extraordinary fashion, and our public space as
sorry through and through. A citizen was abducted from the sanctuary of his
home, and the state made no effort whatsoever to regularize that public criminality
by either informing him of his offences, or charging him with a crime against a
law, or laws, of The Gambia. After more than five months, he was released from
unlawful state detention and told on national television that he was a
loudmouth and must apologize to our benevolent father of the Republic, His
Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Doctor Yahya A J J Jammeh (the Professor).
And this by custodians of the Gambian moral conscience! By any yardstick, the
Imam Leigh saga goes to the very heart of our ability to meaningfully survive
as a polity. 
 
In
trademark fashion, we awoke to the Daily
Observer’s publication of a press release purporting to grant Imam Leigh a presidential
pardon. “The
Imam of Kanifing Estate Baba Leigh has been released, after a pardon by
President Jammeh.  The Imam was accompanied to State House by the Imam
Ratib of Banjul, Alhaji Cherno Alieu Mass Kah and members of the Supreme
Islamic Council.  He was received there by the Minister of Presidential
Affairs, Secretary General and Head of the Civil Service, Dr. Njogu Bah”. 
 
To understand
what must occur before a pardon could be legitimately granted, we must examine
the fundamental and dispositive law as enunciated at section 82 of The 1997
Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia:
 
(1)The
President may, after consulting the Committee established by subsection (2) -
---(a)
 grant to any person convicted of any offence a pardon either free or
subject to lawful conditions;
 
---(b) 
grant to any person a respite, either indefinite or for a specified period, of
the execution of any punishment imposed on that person for any offence;
 
---(c) 
substitute a less severe form of punishment for any punishment imposed on any
person for any offence; 
 
---(d) 
remit the whole or any part of any punishment imposed on any person for such an
offence or any penalty otherwise due to the State on account of any offence 
 
(2) 
There shall be a Committee on the exercise of the prerogative of mercy consisting
of the Attorney General and three other persons appointed by the President
subject to confirmation by the National Assembly.
 
Clearly,
the legal framework of a pardon was not triggered in the case of Imam Leigh. He
was abducted, not arrested. In addition, he was neither informed of, nor
charged with any offence against any law of The Gambia. Needless to say, and more
crucially, Imam Leigh was never convicted and sentenced for a criminal offence
by a competently constituted Court. What he encountered was state criminality
of the highest order!
 
As far as
the supreme law of the Gambia is concerned, a pardon generally comes after
a conviction. On the evidence, Imam Leigh was abducted and disappeared
for over five months. He was never charged with any offence, and no
prosecutions were commenced against him, and there was no concluded judicial
proceeding resulting in a conviction. In the circumstances, there could not be
a presidential pardon.
 
I should
also point out that serious criminal offences were committed by the State against
the person of Imam Leigh.  As such,
anyone who propounds the nonsense that we should be grateful to the Professor
for releasing Imam Leigh betrays cluelessness of the highest order. Merely thinking
such nonsense is offensive to legality and common sense! There was no reason
for the man to be subjected to treatment so completely outside the permission
of our laws, the very fact of his abduction and incarceration entitles him to
millions in compensation from The Gambia Government and its agents.  
 
 
 
 
Lamin J
Darbo

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