Thanks again Beran for forwarding this article. I look forward to the
Independent's Friday edition to learn more about a man (Lawyer Sillah) I
truly admire. Am also glad to learn that Dumo, Lalo, Yarbo et al are not
forgotten and journalists are asking about their well-being. Lawyer Sillah
is right. The AG's behavior is not only 'unlawyerly', it is despicable. This
man should be disbarred. The illogical conclusions he reached in this case
manifests the hateful and callous tendencies of these people. The AG knows
that his justifications for unlawfully keeping these people is ridiculous to
say the least. That is why they don't show up in court when they are
supposed to. It is in treason cases that you need your lawyers the most.
This is a life and death issue for Dumo and others. They need legal advise
from their lawyers and comforting words from their families. What is the
government trying to hide from the public? Tell-tale signs of torture? Is
Secka trying to say that Dumo and others will be advised by their lawyers to
lie to investigators? This is absurd. The AG cannot have his cake and eat
it. The AG and his corrupt prosecutors said they had iron-clad evidence in
the form of a tape recorded conversation. The accused persons have been
incarcerated for months now. Commonsense should tell us that if the
government could not get incriminating material from these people by now,
may be that material does not exist. Relying on lies forwarded by Foday
Barry, the AG chambers colluded with an inexperienced and corrupt magistrate
in order to continue to jail these people against the wishes of a High Court
judge. In the face of this blatant injustice, people like the AG and the
British High Commissioner in Gambia (people that should know better) still
think that life in Gambia is all right. We have political prisoners in the
country that have been languishing in jail without a charge for months. When
the AG is supposed to report to court to argue his case, he does not show
up. Well, they can run but they cannot hide. They will have to come to court
and face Sillah, Joof and Tambedou and be under the scrutiny of the whole
world. We should ensure that we continue to expose the lawlessness of this
regime and condemn every move they make. The only reason these people are in
jail now is because of the erroneous ruling given by Haddy Roche. That
ruling is currently under appeal. Once that is out of the way, these
political prisoners have to be released. That should be our target at this
stage. But knowing how corrupt and slimy these people are, I would not be
surprised if they continue to illegally hold these people. What I can
confidently say is that no judge can justify holding these people in jail
incommunicado. A fool like Haddy Roche can do that at the magistrate court
behind the back of the defense lawyers. But the reason Secka is scared to
come to the High Court is that he is not confident in his case. The judges
might be corrupt, but there are certain blatant injustices that they don't
want to touch. Faced with talented lawyers like Sillah, these judges will
not dare give rulings that they cannot back up. Case in point is the Darboe
ambush case. Left to the AG alone, Darboe would be in jail by now. The judge
can sympathize with the AG, but he cannot turn the law upside down and agree
to the wishes of the AG and his boss. In the Darboe case, the AG is bogged
down on a technicality he cannot escape from. They cannot figure out how to
deal with the jury issue. There is nothing a corrupt judge can do about
that. Likewise, there is nothing a corrupt judge can do about the
preposterous justifications for holding Dumo et al incommunicado. Just wait
and see what is going to happen if and when the AG musters the courage to
appear in court. I cannot guarantee a rout for the defense team because I
cannot vouch for the integrity of the judge. What I can guarantee is that
the judge will not look Sillah in the face and provide a LEGALLY sound
justification for keeping Dumo et al incommunicado. It won't happen.
KB


>From: "Jeng, Beran" <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: FWD:Ousman Sillah Opposes AG's Views On Dumo And Co
>Date: Thu, 2 Nov 2000 07:45:57 -0500
>
>The Point </publishers.html?passed_name=The%20Point&passed_location=Banjul>
>(Banjul)
>November 1, 2000
>Banjul
>Lawyer Ousman Sillah has said that he does not subscribe to the Attorney
>General's view that contacts between lawyers and Dumo Saho and co could
>jeopardise the investigations on the case.
>Speaking in an exclusive interview, lawyer Sillah said: "I have very strong
>views about this, in fact they are diametrically opposed to what the AG is
>saying: that treason is such a serious and anti social crime. I hold the
>view
>that anybody accused of treason is entitled to his or her human rights by
>virtue
>of Section 17.2 of the constitution. Buttressing the point, he added: "For
>me,
>the view is so unlawyerly; it is not the language of a lawyer. Dumo and
>others
>have been held incommunicado for months. We are now in a normal period, not
>in a
>state of emergency."
>A state of emergency, he noted, can be declared by the President; and even
>in
>that case, anybody arrested is entitled, as of right, for his family to be
>informed immediately and for him to have access to his family and lawyer.
>According to lawyer Sillah, the matter is on appeal and for that being the
>case,
>he would like to be professional, and let the court take its own course.
>Please read the entire interview with lawyer Sillah in "Career And People"
>in
>The Point on Friday.
>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
>Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
>You may also send subscription requests to
>[log in to unmask]
>if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your
>full name and e-mail address.
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------

_________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at
http://profiles.msn.com.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask]
if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------