Fatou Jaw Manneh's Trial - Witness Ends Testimony 

FOROYAA Newspaper (Serrekunda) 
NEWS
29 June 2007 
Posted to the web 29 June 2007 

By Fabakary B. Ceesay

  The second prosecution witness (PW2), Mr. Basiru Gassama, in the sedition trial of Journalist Fatou Jaw Manneh, has ended his testimony, on Wednesday 27 June, before Magistrate Buba Jawo of the Kanifing Magistrates' Court. 
  Mr. Gassama said he is somebody who used to advise people not to write anything that can tarnish the image of the country, either in the internet or newspapers; that anybody who wanted to know something about the country should come to the country. Asked if he knew Fatou Jaw Manneh, Gassama stressed that he does know the accused person, adding that seeing her does not mean knowing her. Gassama said he only came to know her when she appeared in the box and when her name was mentioned, but he never met her before. Asked as to whether he ever heard Fatou utter any seditious words, Basiru admitted that he had never heard Fatou Jaw Manneh say or utter any seditious statements to anybody, but said he had seen a publication written by her. He added that he saw the said publication at the NIA headquarters in Banjul. Asked if he was called to the NIA to see the publication, Gassama responded that he was not called to go to the NIA, but that he visited them. Basiru said he cannot
 remember the title of the article written by Fatou, adding, "There were numerous publications, but I can remember the one published in 2004 and 2005." At this point, Mr. Gassama was irritated by the questions posed by the defence counsel, LS Jobarteh and he started to, questioned Jobarteh. Jobarteh told him that he is not in court to ask questions but to answer questions. 
  Magistrate Jawo intervened and warned the witness, he said, "You are not here to say what we are suppose to say, the counsel is here on legal matters and the questions are legal issues, you must listen and answer his questions as he asked, you cannot say what the counsel is suppose to say." 
  Continuing, Basiru Gassama indicated that he never saw Fatou when she was writing that publication. He admitted that the said article was given to him by an old colleague at the NIA but cannot recall his name. Gassama noted that he cannot remember seeing any signature on that article, but that the name on the article was Fatou Jaw Manneh. He said by reading the article, he came to understand that Fatou is the author or the interviewee. He denied reading the said article at the NIA two months ago. 
  Asked to define the word frosty, Mr. Gassama said he read the said article and fully understood it, but cannot remember coming across the word "Frosty." He added that he cannot recall the name of the publisher of the article. He also said he cannot recall the word "Glean" in the article, but instead "Fiery zeal" within the first paragraph, saying, "But I don't know the meaning, because that was the first time I came across those words." "What about riddled?" asked Jobarteh; Mr. Gassama responded that he cannot remember the word "Riddled" and did not know its meaning and that he did not know the meaning of "Peers." 
  Jobarteh asked. "All those words are part of that article, then how did you understand the text of the article?" Gassama said, "These three words are not the only words in the article, there are simple English words in the text that one can understand, even those in primary six can read and understand, but there were some words you must go to the dictionary to find out the meaning, but I don't have time to refer to the dictionary." Mr. Gassama vehemently denied being treated at a mental clinic, saying. "It has never happened to me in my life." Counsel Jobarteh read out a sentence to him from the said article, it reads as thus, "At a time when a generality of her peers were struggling to find their feet in a stereotypical Gambian environment, riddled with the vagaries of gender discrimination." Gassama said it means, "At the time when Gambians are grouping together for gender equality." "Am putting it to you that is not the correct interpretation of that sentence," said
 Jobarteh. Gassama replied, "Well I don't understand those big words." Case adjourned for further hearing. 
        


"True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
       
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