Many thanks Bolonba, and glad you enjoyed this short piece on Imam Baba Leigh and the issue of "pardons" in Gambian public life LJDarbo ________________________________ From: suntou touray <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Tuesday, 14 May 2013, 11:41 Subject: Re: [G_L] A “pardon” for Imam Baba Leigh is preposterous nonsense! A good take LJD. What pardon indeed. Suntou On Mon, May 13, 2013 at 11:26 PM, Lamin Darbo <[log in to unmask]> wrote: A “pardon” for Imam Baba Leigh is preposterous nonsense! > >When news of Imam Baba Leigh’s (Imam Leigh) release exploded in Gambian communities at home and abroad, it was greeted with unanimous and justified relief. For watchers of Gambian public space, curiosity nevertheless centred on how the Imam Leigh imbroglio would be explained by his abductor, i.e. the state of The Gambia. The wait wasn't long, and true to form, the state handling of the affair was astounding in its capriciousness. Or maybe not so astounding as ours is now a country where the absolutely ridiculous is the new normal! > >As if nothing was ever amiss, Imam Leigh was paraded before the nation in a manner that exposed his handlers in extraordinary fashion, and our public space as sorry through and through. A citizen was abducted from the sanctuary of his home, and the state made no effort whatsoever to regularize that public criminality by either informing him of his offences, or charging him with a crime against a law, or laws, of The Gambia. After more than five months, he was released from unlawful state detention and told on national television that he was a loudmouth and must apologise to our benevolent father of the Republic, His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Doctor Yahya A J J Jammeh (the Professor). And this by custodians of the Gambian moral conscience! By any yardstick, the Imam Leigh saga goes to the very heart of our ability to meaningfully survive as a polity. > >In trademark fashion, we awoke to the Daily Observer’s publication of a press release purporting to grant Imam Leigh a presidential pardon. “The Imam of Kanifing Estate Baba Leigh has been released, after a pardon by President Jammeh. The Imam was accompanied to State House by the Imam Ratib of Banjul, Alhaji Cherno Alieu Mass Kan and members of the Supreme Islamic Council. He was received there by the Minister of Presidential Affairs, Secretary General and Head of the Civil Service, Dr. Njogu Bah”. > >To understand what must occur before a pardon could be legitimately granted, we must examine the fundamental and dis positive law as enunciated at section 82 of The 1997 Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia: > >(1)The President may, after consulting the Committee established by subsection (2) - >---(a) grant to any person convicted of any offence a pardon either free or subject to lawful conditions; > >---(b) grant to any person a respite, either indefinite or for a specified period, of the execution of any punishment imposed on that person for any offence; > >---(c) substitute a less severe form of punishment for any punishment imposed on any person for any offence; > >---(d) remit the whole or any part of any punishment imposed on any person for such an offence or any penalty otherwise due to the State on account of any offence > >(2) There shall be a Committee on the exercise of the prerogative of mercy consisting of the Attorney General and three other persons appointed by the President subject to confirmation by the National Assembly. > >Clearly, the legal framework of a pardon was not triggered in the case of Imam Leigh. He was abducted, not arrested. In addition, he was neither informed of, nor charged with any offence against any law of The Gambia. Needless to say, and more crucially, Imam Leigh was never convicted and sentenced for a criminal offence by a competently constituted Court. What he encountered was state criminality of the highest order! > >As far as the supreme law of the Gambia is concerned, a pardon generally comes after a conviction. On the evidence, Imam Leigh was abducted and disappeared for over five months. He was never charged with any offence, and no prosecutions were commenced against him, and there was no concluded judicial proceeding resulting in a conviction. In the circumstances, there could not be a presidential pardon. > >I should also point out that serious criminal offences were committed by the State against the person of Imam Leigh. As such, anyone who propounds the nonsense that we should be grateful to the Professor for releasing Imam Leigh betrays cluelessness of the highest order. Merely thinking such nonsense is offensive to legality and common sense! There was no reason for the man to be subjected to treatment so completely outside the permission of our laws, the very fact of his abduction and incarceration entitles him to millions in compensation from The Gambia Government and its agents. > > > > >Lamin J Darbo > > >¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html >To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ -- www.suntoumana.blogspot.com ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤