Comrades: This is a warning to comrades in the struggle that they should be aware of Tombong Saidy's tactics. He is a man who does not keep to his words. This man lied to us by giving silly excuses by refusing to answer important questions posted to him. We will be doing him a favor by engaging him in debates. He is trying to promote himself by being the big mouth piece of the butcher of kaninlai. Please be aware. On another note, The Point reported the following and I quote: "Lt. Landing Sanneh yesterday appeared before Justice Kabalata who acquitted and discharged him based on a Nolle Prosequi introduced by the Director of Public Prosecutions. But as soon as he stepped out of the courtroom, about six military officers re-arrested him, and took him to Mile Two Prisons just outside Banjul. The nolle prosequi submission was filed by the DPP Chief Agim before Justice Kabalata. The submission sought from the court to discontinue the charges against Lt. Landing Sanneh. The judge then proceeded to acquit and discharge him accordingly. Sanneh's lawyer Ousman Sillah who was present did not object, but told the DPP that if they re-arrest him, it would tantamount to a contempt of court. But the DPP retorted that they were going to come up with fresh charges. It would be recalled that some couple of months ago, the former Attorney General P.O.C. Secka promised that Lt. Sanneh would be brought before a court martial. Sanneh, who was charged for treason, was accused together with late Lt. Almamo Manneh of attempting to overthrow the government in January 2000. The other officers who were suspected of complicity in the alleged plot were reportedly recently re-instated in the armed forces. Omar A. Jallow (OJ) former Agriculture Minister under the PPP regime has described Decree 89 as a violation of the fundamental, civic and human rights of individuals and organisations that have legally registered as political parties. Mr. Jallow, who spoke in an exclusive interview, said these parties were legally registered as political parties, and the individuals affected are citizens that have not been taken to a court of law and convicted. "We are not criminals. Even if we are convicted by a court of law after serving our sentence we have the right to participate, to organise and to join any party of our choice, like any other citizen. Therefore, we see this decree as very discriminatory in terms of citizens popular participation and of every citizen having the option to choose which party to join", he opined. OJ further said they have been seeing the violation of this decree by the very Government itself, adding "Because Buba Baldeh of the Youth, Sports and Culture Ministry in the same Cabinet where I served is now not only a Member of the APRC, which violates Decree 89, but has been given an office as deputy mobiliser of the ruling APRC. Therefore, in effect, the very government that should see to it that the laws are respected has violated them. So now I can say it is an open season, and the floodgates are open to all of us to participate and carry out our political activities," he said. On the proposed constitutional amendments, OJ said this should be a matter of concern to everybody, since some of the issues to be raised, and the clauses that are going to be changed, will affect the fundamental principles of the constitution. "We are going to have a constitution that would make the whole Gambian people answerable to one individual, that is, the president rather than the president being answerable to the people. This is a very serious matter, and now is the right time, before amendments are instituted and implemented, that all those people that are peaceloving Gambians should stand up and speak out against the amendments", he pointed out. "The amendments are contrary acts and an insult to democracy, the rule of law and respect for citizens rights, and an affront to participatory democracy. I see no reason why we should allow one individual to arrogate to himself all the power", he noted. He further pointed out that should the amendments be allowed to go through, then the country will have an absolute dictator, adding "we are going to build a monarchy, and that is not good for the county", he said." Comrades, with the trend of things going on in The Gambia, it is disturbing that Tombong is engaging in cyber lies. I have known Hon. O.J. Jallow since 1977. He is man of character and a fighter for the oppressed. His revelation of political instability and dictatorship should serve a notice to us that Tombong does not know what he is talking about. Tombong can fool some of the people some of the time, and most of the people most of the time, but not all of the people all of the time. Please watch-out for Tombong's lies. Please let us remain strong. We are in this struggle to win. Long live democracy and down with dictator yahya jemus. May Tombong's lies have no effects on our struggle. Naphiyo, Comrade ML Jassey-Conteh ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------