----- Original Message ----- From: "saiks samateh" <[log in to unmask]> To: "abdul aziz drammeh" <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Friday, April 14, 2000 5:00 PM Subject: Re: [Government busy denying events of bloody Monday] Abdul, I am just wondering if some of these minister are very much conscious of the fact that they are dealing with human begins who have brains to think .Denying that the paramilitary shot and killed people is the most criminal thing one can do and say at this moment.This people will never repent,the aftermath of the shooting was no moment of healing,the unnessary arrest and detention of young people was only increasing the tension and a proof to that.Mr Jallow should appeal to the security forces to stop harassing ordinary Gambians and the interior minister should go and tell his funny stories to those people who have no brains to think.The presence of armed military men in almost every street corner in Banjul,Serre Kunda etc testify to the fact that there are no healing process going on,they will shoot when ever they feel it is find to do so,if not they would not be loitering in our streets in arms,we have our little ones to explain to,that using violent methods to suppress opinion or people has never been a successful alternative. It is also my opinion that the student demonstration was not only about student affairs,it was also partly about the conditions of the country.Talking to the students who were taking part in the demonstration one will find out that their concern for the state of affairs in the country was also a motivating factors,a great number of youths who have finished their education have no jobs,there are a great number of students who are not going to school because their parents are not able to afford their school fees.It was not even an accident to hear the students lament on the situation of our poor farmers who are still not able to sell their ground-nuts and we have a president who spend hardly a week in the country without preparing for another trip abroad and now the people are asking the question who owns the aircraft with which he always travel with,is it the president himself or the Gambia government.How are we able to afford such when we are not able to buy the ground nuts of the farmers.The students are conscious of all these situation.It was also no accident,when people standing on the side line openly expressed their sympathy to the rioting students.The interior minister was hiding in a dark room,he was not there to face the students,if he was there then there would have not been any doubt in his mind that it was the students who were demonstrating and not bandits.Such political propaganda are no new thing,what has proof ,again and again,to be a dangerous political play,is to downplay the concern and worries of the people.The FM sude debate was a right thing to do,it is not only the government who have the right to express her opinion in the mass media,the people also have the right to do so in a democratic country.The Gambian people know this government very well,whiles this programme was going on people were already predicting that the government will react against this programme,and they did.What is more interesting is that,the people knowing this,and the implications involved,were announcing their names and addresses and some even travel to the radio station since they were not able to get through the phones just to speak out their minds.The very fact that the government reacted to this programme show the undemocratic nature of our country.And to think that a talk of "six Feet Deep"will stop the people and inject fear in them is not a good thaught from a sound mind,when a president talk of "six Feet Deep",it was no accident to see a young school girl waving her banner saying that they are prepared to die to defend the truth,and they died,who have blood in his/her hands,the students or those who alway threaten to kill ? For Freedom Saiks for freedom saiks 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ____________________________________________________________________ Get your own FREE, personal Netscape WebMail account today at http://webmail.netscape.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 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------