Guinean President Alpha Conde says The Gambia’s President Yahya Jammeh should not be prosecuted for crimes against the state and human rights abuses as a former African leader.
Jammeh initially accepted the results of the 1 December election, whose outcome was seen across Africa as a moment of hope.
President Jammeh is rejected the election results days after a senior member of the winning coalition government-in-waiting said the outgoing President and his spouse would be investigated and prosecuted with a stolen national wealth recovered.
But a spokesperson for the country’s President-elect Adama Barrow told reporters that Mr. Jammeh would not be prosecuted and would be treated like a former head of state and be consulted for advice.
ECOWAS has passed a resolution to use military force to bend Jammeh to leave if he refuses to hand over power to Mr. Barrow.
French President Francois Hollande said the polls are “indisputable” and that Barrow “must be installed as soon as possible.” Hollande told Senegalese President Macky Sall, whose troops will be leading the ECOWAS military force that “the matter is non-negotiable.”
Jammeh is accused by human rights groups of the detention, torture, and killing of perceived opponents during his 22-year rule.
Conde was in Gambia in May after security forces brutally crackdown on opposition protesters over the torture-death of one of its senior members. Riot police beat and slapped protesters, used live rounds and tear gas on them injuring many.
gambia.smbcgo.com
