Shyngle Nyassi aralysed?
Blames torture for his condition

The UDP youth wing leader Shyngle Nyassi said his semi paralysed condition is the result of injuries sustained from alleged torture by the NIA when he was allegedly under       their custody.

Speaking from his sick bed at Kololi Clinic where he has    been admitted since the 26th of January, a haggard, weak   and tired-looking Mr. Nyassi told The Independent that his admission to the clinic is the fifth since his alleged arrest     and torture in 1997. 

'My health condition deteriorated one month ago, and this must have been the result of the torture and detention I underwent,' he claimed, adding that since his torture, he      has been feeling pain on his hips and legs. 

'In 1999 I spent almost one month in a very nasty cell lying naked on a bare floor,' he recalled.

When this reporter was ushered into his presence, Shyngle Nyassi could use only his hands to move himself to a sitting position.

Mr. Nyassi, who said he has been unable to walk for nearly    a month, uses crutches whenever there is a need to move around.  'My legs stopped functioning; but since I was admitted I am exercising and one leg has started       functioning again,' he said.  Mr. Nyassi said his right leg couldn't move due to severe beating allegedly sustained   during his detention three years ago.

The UDP youth wing leader revealed that before his      detention in 1997 he was never admitted to the clinic for hip and leg problems.

The doctor, he said, told him that he has developed a     chronic cold of the veins, which contributed to the failure of  the muscles.

'I was lying flat on the ground for a month,' he complained.

Speaking to The Independent later, Dr Ceesay of the Kololi Clinic said Mr. Nyassi had repeatedly complained of severe low back pain in his clinic and that his last admission was    on June 23rd 1999, following his alleged abduction.

'We checked him and told him that he has very severe pain   on the right lower back with considerable difficulty in the movement of his hip,' the doctor explained.

Dr Ceesay explained that in January this year Shyngle Nyassi's condition worsened since he had difficulty standing and walking, prompting some concern that he might have   been paralysed. According to him, the conclusion of the   x-ray on the sick UDP militant had shown considerable weakness in the patient's muscles linked with the affected    leg.

He said the accumulation of symptoms suggested strongly that the condition of detention might have contributed to his present situation.

Dr. Ceesay was however quick to point out that Mr. Nyassi may be well again, expressing optimism that 'as long as   there is no sensory loss and as long as it is not progressive, the evidence in the last two days shows that he is improving.' He said the x-ray did not show any dramatic condition in the spine and that there is a chance for Syngle Nyassi to walk    out of the clinic as a normal person..