Civil society community on Friday called on the state to drop all charges against Madi Jobarteh and offer an unconditional apology to him.
At a news conference held at TANGO, the community urged the Gambian state refrain from ‘inviting’ citizens to question them about their opinions or remarks so long as those opinions do not constitute incitement to violence and hate speech.
The community is also calling on the Gambian state to ensure that the police always act within the law and with professionalism when dealing with citizens and non citizens in the country.
The country’s civil society demanded further: “A repeal of all the repressive and repugnant laws that negate and dilute the enjoyment of the fundamental rights guaranteed under our constitution; desist from using the same Jammeh era repressive laws to stifle freedom of expression and association or media freedom; demonstrate transparency and accountability by informing the general public about the state of affairs into the investigation of the murder of Haruna Jatta and Ousman Darboe and trial of suspects in the murder of Kebba Secka among other cases of concern; [and] we further amplify the call made by the R2K Gambia for the President Barrow to “prioritize the ECOWAS court judgement, which was issued against the government, quite recently.”
