Culled from GRTS News, "The government of the Gambia has called a press conference yesterday for what its spokesman Mr. Sarjo Jallow said was to appeal to all Gambians to help guide the healing process following fatal students riots on Monday and Tuesday. The press conference took place at the Interior Department in Banjul, and attended by about half of the cabinet, including senior security officers. The government spokesman Mr. Jallow, who is also the Information Secretary, said they are in touch with President Yaya Jammeh, whom he said is expected back in Banjul from Cuba as soon as possible. Mr. Jallow said the president and the cabinet are concerned about incidents of the last few days, and are committted to see justice done. But he also appealed to the public to exercise patience and allow investigations into the riots to conclude. Meanwhile. the Health Secretary Abdoulie Sallah said 20 people are still receiving treatment at the RVH. He said nine dead bodies have been identified, but there still remains two bodies, one of which is a ten-year old child. The other one is a young man. Mr. Sallah said a post-motem on the bodies are being carried out by pathologists, and they will produce their report by next week. At the same press conference, the Interior Secretary Ousman Badgie has again stated that gun shootings in the riots on Monday were fired by criminals who attacked police stations to get arms. He said the information they have is that during the chaos some convicts from police stations in Kotu, Bunding and Serre Kunda ransacked these stations, which were then attacked by ex-prisoners from Mile Two central prisons. Mr. Badgie pointed out that they now have two people in custudy, whom he said attacked the armoury of Serre Kunda police and took away arms. He said the two have in fact revealed eight other names, who also belong to the gang, and are all said to be ex-convicts. Mr. Badgie's comments corroborate those of the Vice President Isatou Njie Saidy, who said on Wednesday that shooting come from within the demonstrators, thus exonerating the security forces of any firing of life bullets. Mr. Badgie also denied that there are any students beaten in police stations or at GTTI. The Interior Secretary has also condemned the phone-in programmes that Radio One FM, and Sud FM Banjul conducted in the wake of the riots. He said they are not encouraging, and could create an upheaval. Mr. Badgie said investigations are going on into facts of the riots, but he dismissed a call from a jouirnalist that outside independent police be invited to carry out the investigations. He said the Gambia is a sovereign state, and it has a competent and capable police force to do that on its own. Also speaking at the press conference the Justice Secretary Pap Cheyassin Secka said an inquiry will be carried out into the events of the last few days, and that all offenders will face the law. He also revealed that the case of Ebrima Barry, the schoolboy who died in Brikama after allegedly been beaten by fire service officers, will be filed next week. He said his department will appoint a public prosecutor, and will foot the bills itself, but they would not interfere with the proceedings. He also said members of the public are invited to suggest names of lawyers, either at home or abroad, who can conduct the prosecution. In the case of the raped school girl from Brikama-ba, Binta Manneh, Mr. Secka said his office faces the difficulty of identifying the alleged rapist, and called on the general public to help in the identification of the alleged rapist. A few weeks ago the police lined up its forces and asked Binta to identify who raped her, but she could not pin-point anyone. The Justice secretary also pointed out that students have a right to demonstrate under the constitution of the country, but he said that right is not absolute. He said students should have informed the relevant authorities about it, who would have to decide when and where it should be held. Mr. Secka said pathologists are examining bodies, and by next week they would be ready to establish the cause of the injuries and deaths. The Education secretary Ann Therese Ndong Jatta has also spoken in favour of the actions of the security forces to put down demonstrations on Monday, on the grounds that the government had the right to maintain law and order and stability. Speaking at a government organised press conference yesterday, she said the students never consulted her office about what they intended to do on Monday. She said their move was clandestine, which was lately detected by the intelligence service. She noted that the chaos could have been avoided if students had contacted the relevant authorities." A.Drammeh. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------