This is another classic illustration of the lawlessness that has plagued our society since 1994 when Yaya and a band of bandits illegally usurped power from a democratically elected government. From the onset, it was Yaya's and Pap Cheyassin Secka's plan to ensure that justice is NOT done in the Ebrima Barry case. Their sick rationale for this heinous decision: if the courts do not convict the alleged perpetrators of the torture and murder of Ebrima Barry, that would show the world that the students were not justified in their demonstrations on April 10 and 11, 2000. Yaya and his illegal government want to portray the students as unruly people that were unjustifiably going after the heads of 'innocent' firemen that were merely helping to 'discipline' a rude Ebrima Barry. Well, Gambians are decent enough and smart enough to decipher the truth in this case. In the minds of ordinary Gambians, there is absolutely no doubt that Ebrima Barry was tortured and brutally murdered by those firemen. The spineless judge that adjudicated this matter might cling on legal technicality like 'reasonable doubt', but the decent Gambians do not have doubts. We know a conspiracy when we see one. Granted, the prosecutor that was hand-picked by Cheyassin Secka to implement this despicable plan did an appalling job (as far as the people's case is concerned), but as I demonstrated in previous mail regarding this topic, the judge had enough to hang his gown on had he had the guts to do what is right and convict these animals. But the judge, knowing the fate that befalls on members of the judiciary that do not toe the government's line, decided to dodge the bullet and took cover behind the blatant ineptitude of Secka's prosecutor. Let no one be surprised if it later turns out that the judge cleared this decision with Joseph Joof before handing it out. In other words, it should not be shocking to us if someone with integrity comes out and tell us that Joof told the judge in no uncertain terms that if these murderers were not rendered free, the judge will be gotten rid of. This is what happens behind closed doors between a dictatorship like the one we have and a spineless judiciary manned mainly by foreigners. I honestly do not think that a Gambian judge would have treated Ebrima Barry's family with the insensitivity this foreign judge and prosecutor treated Barry's father. This is not xenophobia. I am merely stating facts. At the risk of repeating myself, I shall endeavor to demonstrate again how the judge could have salvaged this case if his heart was in the right place. The reprehensible job the prosecution and his witnesses did, goes without saying. This prosecutor either has to be the dumbest lawyer on the face of the earth or the most corrupt one. I mean, what kind of prosecutor will call witnesses like Dr. Sam, have them sabotage your case and not call other witnesses to revive your case? If this man was a good lawyer, he will change the theory of his case as soon as it became obvious to him that the pathologist wanted to come to court and lie about the cause of death. When the prosecutor realized that Sam et al were going to introduce this ridiculous liver disease as the cause of death, the prosecutor should have shifted to a tactic that said that even though hepatitis might have played a part, the firemen aggravated an already existing ailment and therefore are equally guilty of the murder. The prosecutor should have applied the 'egg skull rule' that says that the criminal should take his victim as he finds him. In other words, even if the criminal's blows will not kill a healthy individual, if they killed the victim because of a pre-existing ailment, the criminal will still be guilty. This is not Monday morning quarter-backing on my part. Months ago, this moron of a prosecutor was warned about the despicable way he was handling this case. This man single-handedly did the defense's work for them. He called witnesses that told the judge that the firemen were not guilty because Ebrima Barry died from hepatitis. I can hear the moron arguing that he was ethically bound to call witnesses even though those witnesses might end up giving testimony unfavorable to his case. I recognize that ethical obligation. But that is not what we are dealing with here. Avan (or whatever the prosecutor's name is), had no obligation to call witnesses like Sam that would come to court and tell blatant lies. But even if he is stupid enough to call bogus doctors like Sam that have no professional integrity, why in God's name did Avan not get another pathologist that can rehabilitate Sam's clearly unfavorable testimony? Sam should have been grilled by the prosecutor long before Sam took the witness stand. At the end of the day, Sam should have been asked to explain how on earth Ebrima could have been suffering from a terminal disease to the extent that he would die from that disease without the knowledge of his family and friends? How can someone with this type of disease be so intimidating to his teachers that the latter have to solicit the assistance of firemen in order to discipline him? This is why you bring in the 'rehabilitation witness'. Avan should have gotten a real doctor that would educate the judge about the symptoms of hepatitis. That would have contradicted Sam's clearly ridiculous conclusions that Ebrima was at the brink of death from hepatitis when he encountered the firemen. Sam's version might be the way medicine is practiced in Cuba, but we should not allow such ineptitude/corruption in Gambia. But even if we accept Sam's testimony in its entirety and even if there was no rehabilitation witness, Avan could have given a powerful closing argument from the little evidence he had and the judge could have also convicted these criminals. What did Avan have? There was testimony that Ebrima was visibly healthy when he was kidnapped by the firemen. I did not see anywhere that prior to this incident, Ebrima was diagnosed with a terminal liver disease. According to reports I saw, this ridiculous notion only surfaced after Sam mustered the courage to come to court and lie about the cause of death. As a matter of fact, the government is on record denying that liver failure was the cause of death. When the government realized that very few people were watching them, they summoned the guts to come and peddle this lie. Going back to Avan's case, he also have Ebrima's parents' testimony that Ebrima only complained about his ailments when he got back from the firemen. Avan also had a dead body. At the very least, this man should have been able to argue that the firemen 'contributed' to Ebrima's death. If it is too much to ask for the prosecutor to prove that the torture from the firemen was the sole cause of death, it is certainly not too much to ask of this 'special prosecutor' to show that the firemen had something to do with the death. This is disgusting. I just cannot believe the magnitude of lawlessness being evinced here. This was an open and shut case. As demonstrated above, if the judge had any integrity, he would not rely on fluid technicalities as 'reasonable doubt' in order to deny justice to the Gambian people. The judge could have assisted the people's case by directing Avan to the strong points of his case. Judges do that every day. Good judges do not sit by and watch morons sabotage cases as vital as this one. When it suits the judges in The Gambia, they assist AG chambers by adjourning cases if the cowards at AG chambers fail to show up for their cases. When the lives of people like Ousainou Darboe and Dumo Saho is on the line, these judges will do everything to assist the AG chambers to prove their case against Darboe et al. But when it comes to standing up for defenseless Gambian children, these judges hide behind the ineptitude of those bogus and corrupt lawyers at AG chambers. That is unacceptable. There was enough evidence on that record to ensure that these criminals were convicted. How can one thoroughly examine the issue of 'causation' in this case and not ascribe blame to the firemen? Forget the reports from despicable characters like Sam. Common sense tells us that Barry's short stay with the firemen was the primary cause of his death. If he was as sick as Sam wants us to believe, there would be no need for the school officials to call the firemen on him. The Head-master could have simply shouted at Barry and the latter will die from hepatitis. It is at the height of gullibility to accept Sam's theory of this case. This is like saying that Barry died in his sleep. If Sam was in a civilized law-abiding society, his license will be revoked together with the license of that silly prosecutor. What pathologist and prosecutor cannot prove that the torture from the firemen aggravated Barry's ailments (if at all those ailments existed)? This conspiracy between Yaya, AG chambers, RVH, and the judge ought to be challenged head on. We have to vindicate our children that died on April 10 and 11, 2000, fighting for Ebrima Barry and all of us. We should not accept this injustice without protest. They do not expect us to. We should not disappoint them. The Opposition should mobilize and demand justice for Ebrima Barry and the countless innocent children murdered by this callous regime. The reason Yaya and his cohorts had earlier on lied about the contents of Sam's report, was because they feared reprisals from the people. Let us show them that it is not acceptable for the security forces to torture and murder innocent children and get away with it. What happened to Ebrima Barry can happen to any child in The Gambia. We would be sending Yaya and the world the wrong message if we tolerate the murder of one single child at the hands of forces that should be protecting those children. 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