This is nothing but a sick and an elaborate tactic to intimidate the
students and the Gambian public. It is no coincident that the government is
talking about persecuting the students at the same time that a court ruling
is being handed down, releasing the people that perpetrated the murder and
torture of Ebrima Barry. The government knows that it is wrong to unleash
these animals to the general public. In anticipation of an uproar from the
students and the general public, they send Joseph Joof out to intimidate the
students by threatening to jail the participants in the April 10 and 11,
2000 demonstrations.

Joseph Joof knows that they do not have a case against these children. Even
Pap Cheyassin Secka conceded that and went on record to pledge to the
Gambian people that our illegal government is not going to go after the
students. So, why this sudden change of heart? What changed the past few
weeks? Joseph Joof became AG. He wants to impress his thuggish friends. How
does he do that? He threatens our children with empty threats hoping that
the faint hearted will just roll over. We refuse to play dead in the face of
such tyranny. Joof et al might have been emasculated by an impotent like
Yaya, but some of us still have our manhood intact.

Joof can try all he can to impress his murderous friends, but he cannot
succeed where Pap Cheyassin Secka failed. Joof cannot defend the
indefensible. In case he was not following the case involving our children
while he was in the private Bar, let me enlighten him a little about where
we are in that case. Right after the demonstration, these children were
unlawfully arrested by our callous government. They were kidnapped
(illegally held against their will) by the murderers of our children and
held beyond the constitutionally mandated 72 hours.

Real lawyers (different from self-promoters like Joof) took the matter to
court and asked for the students be released as mandated by the
Constitution. What did AG chambers do when they were faced by legal
luminaries like Ousman Sillah? Pap Cheyassin Secka and his green lawyers
failed to file briefs and defend their illegal stance in court. Instead,
they were asking for adjournments while our children languished in jail.
Remember, all this time, the murderers of our children were roaming the
streets of Banjul scot-free; and Secka was putting all his energies in
jailing the students that were lucky enough not to have died from the
massacre.

Because AG chambers could not defend the indefensible, the Gambian judge
that was handling the matter had no choice but to refuse the government's
application for adjournment and release the children. What judge would not
do that? Back in June, 2000 when this matter came up, we pointed out Secka's
irrational claims that his office was being treated unfairly because they
were denied the right to present their case. Secka brought forth some
frivolous 'natural justice' arguments saying that they had a right to be
heard. That argument was sickening to me at the time and is more nauseating
now. What this despicable AG chambers is arguing for is for the courts to
allow their feet-dragging while our children rot in jail. To add insult to
injury, they cannot even argue that they have a strong case against the
students. So, they want the courts to participate in the fraud of jailing
our children while there is no prima facie case against the students. Sounds
deja vu? This is the same ploy they hatched against Dumo et al. They want
you to rot in jail while they pretend to be engaged in never-ending
investigations. This is their modus operandi because they know that if they
bring their evidence in the open, they will not succeed in getting
convictions. This is the worst form of political persecution. Where is
'natural justice' here? What happened to speedy trials? What happened to
confronting accused persons with real evidence?

Joof knows that he cannot convict these children before Mam Yassin Sey's
court. But there might be a blessing in disguise in this illogical move by
the government. The government has shown that they cannot stick to their
words. They have shown that they do not want to 'reconcile' with the Gambian
people. But best of all, this is going to spell Joof's demise. If this
matter goes to court and all preliminary issues are taken care of, real
lawyers like Ousman Sillah will force the release of the report from the
commission of inquiry. Joof will then be cornered to a position where he
would have to justify why he would act on certain portions of the report he
co-authored, and not on others. Joof will have to explain why Sankung
Badjie, Baba Jobe, Sarjo Jallow, Baboucarr Jatta, Isatou Njie-Saidy and
others are still holding prominent roles in the government he serves, while
he is persecuting our children. In front of Ousman Sillah, Joof will not be
able to admit certain portions of the report and leave others out. The
contents of that report when looked at in light of the contempt with which
Yaya treated our children, would disgust Gambians to the extent that the
little support APRC has, would evaporate. We encourage Joof to be a man and
come to court with what he got. Let him come and argue the 'substantive'
case they have against the students and stop this nonsense of using
extra-judicial methods to intimidate the children. The courts must not allow
Yaya and Joof to hide behind procedural matters in order to kidnap our
children pending the trial. Let Joof prepare his case and muster the courage
to come in open court and not ask for endless adjournments. I can guarantee
that like his predecessors, he will be routed by lawyers like Ousman Sillah,
Antou Gaye and Emmanuel Joof.
KB

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