COURTESY OF THE INDEPENDENT A local imam has been the first religious leader to speak out against the recently passed indemnity bill, saying it is against the concept of justice in Islam. The Imam of the Kanifing East mosque Baba Lee condemned the bill passed by the National Assembly, describing it as "unjust and against the principles and teachings of Islam". Speaking during his Hutba last Friday, Imam Lee minced no words as he criticised the idea of indemnifying those among the security forces who opened fire and killed demonstrating students as they took to the streets last year. In a particularly fierce sermon Imam Lee accused members of the National Assembly who voted in the bill of going against the principles of justice and fair play as known to Islam especially as it was meant to indemnify those who as he put it committed crimes against humanity. Therefore he argued that the National Assembly members should never have subscribed to the idea of passing an act, which he considers notorious and anti-Islam. "They are supposed to represent the interests of the people rather than their own personal interests or follow the dictates of an individual to do anything that goes against the interest of the country" he charged. He said the principles of Islam, which forbade the protection of criminals from punishment, are quite incompatible with the intent of the bill and therefore unacceptable to a majority of Gambians. Quoting the Hadiths, Imam Lee said, "anyone who protects those who commit crimes will not be spared from the punishment reserved for criminals". "According to the Hadiths, loving one's country is a religious obligation whilst doing anything bad against one's country tantamount to going against the teachings of Islam," he said. He added that as religious leaders, imams also have a stake in every aspect of life including politics. "While the National Assembly members have immunity in the National Assembly to say anything they want, we the imams also have immunity in our mosques to say anything that the Almighty Allah commands us to say," he remarked. Imam Lee went on, "those who committed crimes against the people could only be indemnified by those against whom they committed those crimes but not by a bill or anyone else". Therefore he said those people should know that no matter how long it takes, they would still get punished for those crimes. He gave an example of the former Chadian leader Hissene Habre who he said was recently expelled from Senegal because of crimes he allegedly committed against his people while in power several years ago. He believes that as a result of his allegedly brutal rule no country he said is willing to accept the former Chadian leader. "Therefore, you can run but you can never escape punishment for the crimes you committed against the people," he warned, adding that no indemnity bill would be able to protect those who committed crimes against the Gambian people. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------