The interim leader of the opposition APRC has said the former ruling party will not repeat mistakes made under former President Jammeh.

“Another APRC leadership in government will not repeat the mistakes made under the leadership of former President Jammeh. I want to emphasise that, this is a new group of leaders, we are not soldiers but civilians who are interested in the development of this country,” he said at a press conference recently.

He said recent comments from a sitting National Assembly member demanding for the APRC to be banned should not be entertained in a democratic state.

“The current APRC leadership is with the conviction that, selective justice is unacceptable in a democratic state,” Jatta said.

He further stated that the Coalition Government should stop being “paranoid” about the APRC and its former leader President Jammeh and focus on their developing the country.

“We want the Coalition Government to expeditiously put up measures to curb the growing rate of armed robbery, rape and murder especially in the Greater Banjul Area and stop the blame game on the former government,” he said.

He said the Coalition Government came on a platform of a “New Gambia”, which will ensure democracy, rule of law and protection of fundamental rights with lot of other promises.

“Therefore, we demand that they fulfill their campaign promises and stop the rhetoric about APRC and Jammeh. As far as the promise by the new government Gambians are expecting the creation of youth employment, price reduction of basic commodities, for example, a bag of rice to cost D500, free visa for our youths, reliable and efficient electricity supply and the introduction of presidential term limits among others,” he added.

He said the government has also failed in its promise to protect Gambians’ fundamental rights including freedom of association, assembly and expression.

“The government since taking over, has not fulfilled any of its promises, even the provision of seed nuts, farming implements and fertiliser to farmers. It should be noted that the distributed fertilizer were the APRC government leftovers,” he alleged.

He said the new APRC leadership demands the new government to immediately appoint a vice president and immediately launch an independent investigation in to the death of Haruna Jatta.

“We also call on the Coalition Government to immediately drop all politically motivated charges against APRC members such as the Kanilai peaceful demonstrators and those arrested during the victory celebration in Sibanor and demilitarise the Fonis especially Kanilai.

“While urging government to focus on fulfilling these promises and demands rather than being paranoid about APRC and Jammeh. We wish to be on record to say that the APRC and all its membership believed and accepts that President Barrow is the current president of The Gambia.”
He also disclosed that the party is currently looking for new political bureau.

Source: Standard Newspaper

Observer Company, the publisher of one of the country’s leading newspapers, Daily Observer, has been confronting problems galore since the beginning of the second quarter of this year.
Amidst allegations of financial malfeasance, staff salaries have been paid late and many creditors have served pay-up notes. Then on June 14, the national tax authority (GRA) closed the paper for two weeks and demanded the payment of D17 million arrears.

After the statutory 14 days passed, the paper resumed publication but the head of GRA earlier this week told the press they are suing the newspaper company for a final determination on the recovery of the tax liabilities.

This same week, the Gambia Press Union, which has been brokering negotiations between the GRA and Observer Company, issued a public statement condemning the “incorrigible behaviour” of the Observer management and demanding a public clarification about the ownership of the company.

The managing director of Observer, Pa Modou Mbowe had publicly stated when asked at the beginning of Observer’s current travails in June that he does not know who owns the company he heads.

Yesterday, the Justice minister announced that government will be seeking a court order this morning to add the company to an ever-expanding list of assets belonging to the former President Jammeh.

The ownership of Observer has been a vexed question for many Gambians and media watchers.
The general perception has been that it was owned by the former president, Yahya Jammeh. However, when the list of his assets which were frozen was earlier released, Observer Company was conspicuously missing.

Investigations by this paper revealed that according to documents lodged at the office of the attorney general’s chambers in Banjul, the Observer Company is owned by Baba Jobe and his cousin Modou Sula Jobe, both now deceased.

Official documents state that on 21 October 2002, Buba Baldeh (also now deceased) serving as company secretary, filed a memorandum and articles of association for Observer Co. Ltd in which Baba K Jobe of Jarra Karantaba and Momodou Sula Jobe, were indicated as owning 990 shares and 10 shares of the 1,000 shares listed for the company.

An earlier file, dated 25 March 1999, showed an affidavit filed by Mr Amadou Samba stating him to be the owner of the business.

But sources close to the businessman who was a friend to Baba Jobe confirmed that Mr Samba had transferred ownership to Mr Jobe and demanded the removal of his name as proprietor printed on the bottom back of the paper.

Mr Samba, a former close associate of President Jammeh, originally bought the company from its founder Kenneth Y Best, a Liberian, who was deported by President Jammeh in October 1994.

Contacted for further clarification on June 18, Lamin AK Touray, the registrar of companies, told The Standard: “We have conducted a due diligence search on the said company [Observer] but realised that it is not incorporated and registered on the Single Window Business Registry system. There is no information under our historical records as well, which means it is neither incorporated nor registered with us [as a company].”

A former government official who requested anonymity, told The Standard: “The Observer was part of the collateral damage that Baba [Jobe] suffered when he fell out with Yahya Jammeh and was detained and jailed and later died in prison.”

The source alleged that President Jammeh appropriated Baba Jobe’s assets including compounds, lands, businesses, interests in the hospitality sector and even bank accounts.
Asked whether these “appropriated assets” were not in fact President’s Jammeh’s and held by Baba Jobe in proxy, he said: “What I know is that they were Baba’s properties. He owned them.”

Meanwhile, The Standard has learnt that the family of Mr Jobe led by his widow and brother had engaged the services of a lawyer to advise on their claim for retrieval of the Observer Company.
Another source told this paper that while the Observer Company may belong to Baba Jobe, the building housing the company “definitely belongs to Yahya Jammeh”.

It is interesting to note that since its establishment in 1992, the Observer Company has had 15 managing directors and all of them have been hired [except for Mr Best] and fired by President Jammeh or at his behest.

Source: Standard Newspaper

Abubakar Tambadou, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice has welcomed the withdrawal of his brother Sheriff Tambadou from the prosecution team at a press briefing held at the Attorney General’s Chambers in Banjul.

“I welcome the decision of my brother (Sheriff) to withdraw from the prosecution team in the NIA 9 Case. I believed it is the right thing to do under the circumstances,” Justice Minister Abubakr Tambadou said.

Minister Tambadou went further to say his brother’s withdrawal would hopefully allow the prosecution team to focus on the more important task of establishing criminal accountability for the unfortunate death of Solo Sandeng. He asserted that the selection of Sheriff as co prosecutor was the exclusive decision of the Special Prosecutor, Mr. Antouman Gaye.

“As Attorney General, I have strictly limited all my communications on the case,” he asserted.

The Justice Minister commended the appointment of Antouman Gaye as the Prosecutor General in managing the case and selecting the prosecution team of his choice. He said he was made aware of the defense proposal to commence negotiation towards a plea bargain. He added that he gave his approval in principle to proceed.

Notwithstanding, he said he has come to the conclusion in view of the entire circumstances of the meeting between Sheriff and a representative of the first accused person (Yankuba Badjie) and having listened to the audio recording that the said meeting could reasonably interpret that his decisions as Attorney General could be influence by extraneous factors.

“I wish to state for the record that all the decisions I have taken since my appointment as Attorney General and Minister of Justice have been base purely on professionalism and the best interest of the nation without any undue influence from anyone including family members,” Minister Tambadou interjected.

The Justice Minister further said his personal commitment to ensure justice for all the victims of human rights violations and abuses for the past 22 years is much only with the zeal and enthusiasm which he has to embrace the call to come home to serve his country.

“I have demonstrated my commitment to justice in the Solo Sandeng case in particular by appointing a senior and very experience criminal law attorney as the Special Prosecutor in the person of Antouman Gaye and I continue to give him all the necessary support necessary to conduct his prosecution,” he stated.

Minister Tambadou reiterated his confidence in the ability of the Special Prosecutor to diligently and professionally prosecute this case as the case for the prosecution is strong. He said he has set the goal to restore public confidence in the justice system and setting high standard of integrity in public office. He further stressed his commitment to this objectives.

“These are difficult time for my family and I thank all those who tried to reach out to show support,” he said.

Responding to questions, the Attorney General was asked about his proposed resignation that was reportedly rejected by President Barrow but he referred the journalist to the office of the President. He was also questioned whether he really told his brother that he does not want to prosecute the NIA 9 case as stated in the audio recording of his brother and representative of the first accused, Yankuba Badjie. He refused to comment but relate to his brother’s press statement.

Meanwhile, the Justice Minister has disclosed that the prosecution team were contracted for D5 Million instead of D51 Million as reported on social media.

PRESS BRIEFING JULY 2017

Welcome to another press briefing of the Ministry of Justice following the last one in May. As usual, the primary purpose of our press briefings is to provide the public with periodic updates and relevant information on the progress of the activities of the Ministry as part of the Ministry’s policy of engendering transparency and accountability in government.

NIA 9 CASE

I welcome the decision of my brother Sheriff to withdraw from the prosecution team in the NIA 9 case. It is the right thing to do under the circumstances. His withdrawal, therefore, will allow the prosecution team to focus on the more important task of establishing criminal accountability for the unfortunate death of Solo Sandeng.

Let me however make clear that the selection of Sheriff as co-prosecutor was the exclusive decision of the Special Prosecutor Mr. Antouman Gaye. As Attorney-General, I have strictly limited all my communications on the case to direct contact with Mr Gaye exclusively. But appointing Mr Gaye as Prosecutor also comes with allowing him a margin of appreciation in his management of the case including his selection of a prosecution team and a prosecutorial strategy of his choosing. For the record, I was made aware of the defence’s proposals to commence negotiations towards a plea bargain and I gave my approval in principle for this.

Notwithstanding, I have come to the conclusion, in view of the entire circumstances of the meeting between Sheriff and the representative of the 1^st Accused, and having listened to the audio recording, that the said meeting could reasonably be interpreted as creating the impression that my decisions as Attorney General could be influenced by extraneous factors.

I wish to state for the record, that all the decisions that I have taken since my appointment as Attorney General and Minister of Justice have been based purely on professionalism and in the best interest of the country without any undue influence from anyone including family members.

I wish to state further that my personal commitment to ensure justice for all the victims of human rights violations and abuses of the past 22 years, is matched only by the zeal and enthusiasm with which I embraced the call to return home and serve my country.

I have demonstrated my commitment to justice in the Solo Sandeng case in particular by appointing a senior and very experienced criminal law attorney as Special Prosecutor in the person of Mr Antouman Gaye and I continue to give him all the support necessary to enable him conduct an effective prosecution. I re-iterate my full confidence in Mr Gaye’s ability to prosecute this case with diligence and professionalism as the case for the prosecution remains strong.

I have set myself the goal of restoring public confidence in our justice system and setting the highest standards of integrity in public office. I remain fully committed to these objectives.

These are very difficult times for my family and I thank all those who reached out to show support.

ASSETS FREEZE

On the freezing of the assets in the country of former President Yahya Jammeh, we continue to receive additional information in respect of a significant number of assets purportedly belonging to him and his close associates. We however want to make sure that the reports we are getting about ownership of these latest assets are factual and accurate. We have now filed a supplemental list of assets before the High Court in Banjul for the inclusion of these newly discovered assets in the freezing order. So far, this new list includes 49 additional landed properties located in the greater Banjul area bringing the total number of known landed properties owned by former President Yahya Jammeh to 180 in the country.

TRUTH, RECONCILIATION & REPARATIONS COMMISSION

The Ministry has now concluded the first review of the draft TRRC bill. We have also now shared this draft bill with international experts who have acquired experience on the establishment of truth commissions from around the world. Let me emphasize that while we will seek the views of outsiders on our truth commission process, our TRRC will be designed by the people of The Gambia based on a model that fits the particular social, cultural, political and historical context of The Gambia.

Consequently, the Ministry intends to lead a team on a tour of all the administrative regions of the country to engage the people in discussions about the TRRC process. The touring team will be selected from a cross-section of Gambian religious, political, ethnic, civil society, professional, youth and women communities who shall themselves undergo a one or two day workshop about the methodology of the public consultations on the TRRC before embarking on the tour. The different groups will be requested to nominate members for the touring team.

We hope to start this public engagement tour in early August 2017 so that the finalized draft bill will be tabled before the National Assembly in September. If the bill is passed into law, the recruitment exercise for positions in the TRRC will commence soon after to ensure that we remain on course to start hearings by the end of the year as planned. Recruitment will be done through an open competitive process for most of the posts with a few exceptions such as direct appointments by the President of the Republic.

We shall soon start radio and television discussions about the whole TRRC process, its objectives and rationale so that there will be better understanding about the process for both perpetrators and victims and the public at large. The Ministry has already started reaching out to Christian and Islamic religious leaders to engage with and encourage their communities and congregations to be open and truthful about our dark past as a way to sustainable peace and genuine reconciliation in the country. This is particularly important as perpetrators and victims of abuses continue to live together in small communities with mistrust and suspicion hovering over them and that this needs to be addressed in an open, transparent and truthful manner.

We therefore continue to call on community leaders and youth and women’s groups to engage their people in these discussions nationwide in a constructive manner. In this regard, we welcome the recent initiative of the National Council for Civic Education on the National Dialogue on Peace and Reconciliation and the public support given to this process by the respective Chiefs of Foni and the National Assembly members in the area.

Conversely, the Ministry of Justice condemns unequivocally all acts or utterances that encourage sectarianism in this country. Political and community leaders must conduct themselves with responsibility especially in their utterances and anything that tends to divide us along political or tribal lines should be avoided. We encourage everyone to embrace the message of peace in our communities. The present mood in the country is one of refreshing freedom and liberty. While we will exercise maximum restraint in the strict application of the law under these circumstances, this must not be interpreted as weakness. Democracy must not be equated with lawlessness. The exercise of any fundamental rights also come with responsibility to society and respect for governmental authority. No one should take the law unto themselves lest we undermine the very essence of our new found democracy which we all fought so hard to achieve.

The Ministry welcomes the official establishment of the Gambia Centre for Victims of Human Rights Violations. We encourage them to reach out and include in their organization all the victims of human rights violations and abuses of the 22 year rule of President Yahya Jammeh and I assure them of my personal commitment to justice for all. We look forward to working closely with the Centre and building a strong partnership with them in this entire process. We will not be able to achieve much without their continuous support and solidarity and that is why ours will be a victims’ centered approach. We are a traumatized nation and our people must never be allowed to go through a similar experience again!

CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW

At a national conference on Justice and Human Rights held in The Gambia on 23 – 25 May, 2017 under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice, and following identification of numerous amendments proposed for the 1997 Constitution, there was general consensus by a cross-section of the participants from Gambian religious, political, civil society and other communities that overall, the strategic objective of a return to sustainable democracy, would require the drafting of a new Constitution as a review by amendments to the 1997 Constitution will be too numerous and may not address all issues comprehensively. It is expected, therefore, that a new constitution of the Republic of The Gambia which will usher in the 3^rd Republic, shall be adopted at the end of this exercise.

The MOJ, in consultation with the office of the Chief Justice, has now finalized a draft concept note and terms of reference for this constitutional review process. It is proposed that a Constitutional Review Commission be established with membership drawn from a cross-section of Gambian political, religious, civil society, youth, women, professional and other communities. The CRC will be mandated to engage in consultations with the Gambian public both in the country and outside. The CRC shall submit its report together with a new draft constitution based on its public consultations. The duration of the Commission shall be for 18 months from the date it will be established and the entire exercise shall last for not more than 2 years. The draft constitution shall be put to a referendum for adoption by the people of The Gambia. The proposed new constitution of The Gambia shall be one that reflects faithfully and accurately the views of the generality of Gambians both at home and abroad and from a cross-section of Gambian religious, political, civil society, youth, women, professional and other communities. Further details about the entire process will be shared in due course. The Commission shall engage in very rigorous public information and outreach programs about its activities and functions soon.

COMMISSIONS OF INQUIRY

A presidential Commission of Inquiry into the financial activities of public enterprises, bodies and offices as regards their dealings with former President Jammeh has now been established. The Commission’s Terms of Reference have been published and are available at the National Printing Office. The Commission shall sit for 3 months from July 2017 at the Jerma Beach Hotel. The Commission will soon make public announcements with further details about their sittings etc.

There are plans to establish a second Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the alleged unlawful interference with and/or confiscation of private property by former President Yahya Jammeh under cover of the State. The Ministry has received numerous complaints and petitions from individuals alleging unlawful confiscation of their properties especially land by former President Yahya Jammeh under cover of the State. It is the Ministry’s view that in light of the number of complaints and petitions received, it will be for the public good to establish another Presidential Commission of Inquiry to look into alleged unlawful interference with and/or confiscation of private property by former President Yahya Jammeh in the name of the State.

However, for several reasons including the need to avoid potential overlap in some areas of inquiry between the two separate commissions of inquiry, the Commission of inquiry into the alleged unlawful interference with and/or confiscation of private property is expected to be established after the completion of the work of the Commission of inquiry into the financial activities of public enterprises as regards their dealings with former President Jammeh. More details about the second Commission of inquiry will be shared with the public soon.

CCDRP

I am pleased to report that the Criminal Case and Detention Review Panel has now completed the review of all cases under its purview. You will recall that the Panel was established by the Ministry of Justice and its membership drawn from this Ministry and various other organs under the Ministry of Interior including the Gambia Police Force, the Prison Service, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency etc. The mandate of the Panel was to review and make recommendations to the Attorney General and Minister of Justice on specified categories of cases including criminal cases against current or former public servants, or criminal cases linked to a political activity. I have now received the final report of the Panel with its recommendations.

Over the past 3 months, the Panel has reviewed a total of 241 criminal cases involving 304 accused persons. Recommendations were made to discontinue prosecutions in 36 cases involving 86 accused persons on the basis of insufficient evidence. Currently, there are 208 people held in remand awaiting trial or the conclusion of trial for various offences including murder and rape. Convicts or remand prisoners with medically certified mental disabilities will be transferred from prisons to Tanka Tanka psychiatric hospital for appropriate treatment.

I wish to take this opportunity to thank all the members of the Criminal Case and Detention Review Panel through the Chair, Ms Oli Danso, Senior State Counsel at the Ministry of Justice, for all the hard work and dedication shown throughout this challenging task. They have had to work extremely hard under very difficult circumstances including on weekends to ensure that the task is completed in a timely manner.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND MEDIA LAW REFORM

Calls for expressions of interest from local law firms or counsel for a comprehensive review of our criminal justice law and procedure to bring it in line with international best practices shall be announced soon after consultations with the office of Chief Justice.

Work on media law reform has already started in consultation with Article 19 and the Ministry of Information and Communication Infrastructure. There will be a wider consultative process with stakeholders following these initial steps.

We intend to approach the criminal justice and media law reforms in phases bearing in mind the constitutional review process so that any changes in our criminal justice and media laws shall take into account the provisions of any proposed new constitution.

INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENTS

In our efforts to ensure that the international community including the United Nations continues to engage with and support The Gambia throughout this transition period, we attended the fourth annual session of the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission in New York upon their invitation. During the session, we thanked the international community particularly the United Nations, the African Union and Ecowas for standing by the people of The Gambia during the political impasse in December and January, and urged them to continue their engagement with The Gambia as it seeks to consolidate the peace in the country.

Many speakers, including senior officials of the United Nations, and the Permanent Representative of the sister Republic of Senegal hailed The Gambia as a shining model that the rest of the world could learn from about peaceful political transitions. They urged continued rapid financial and other support to The Gambia.

On the margins of the Peacebuilding Commission session, we also held bilateral meetings with senior UN officials including the Administrator of the UNDP, the Rule of Law Office, the Office of Legal Affairs, and the Peacebuilding Support Office which has already disbursed to The Gambia through the UNDP country office an initial amount of $3M to kick start support for the security sector reform and our transitional justice processes including the establishment of a national Project Board under the leadership of the Ministry of Justice. In all our meetings, we emphasized the need for continued engagement with the Government and people of The Gambia and for rapid support in translating this democratic victory of the Gambian people into concrete economic advancement for ordinary Gambians.

In terms of strengthening capacity and enhancing resources within the Ministry, I am pleased to report that, with the assistance of our development partners especially the UNDP and the Turkish Government through its embassy in The Gambia, the Ministry will soon be able to provide every State Counsel at the Ministry with a desktop computer. The Ministry has meanwhile installed internet service in the whole of the Ministry for all counsel.

These two latest developments are absolutely essential in the provision of legal services in the 21^st century. It will help to drastically reduce the time for the preparation of cases, provide counsel with greater and faster access to legal research tools, and maximize efficiency. Plans are also underway to introduce modern electronic case management systems, and electronic record keeping and sharing platforms to facilitate communications and the efficient management and retrieval of information within the Ministry.

These developments will be complemented by training inside and outside the country in the use of these tools. This will ensure that the Ministry provides services of the highest professional quality to the public and Government and advance our quest for equality of arms between the public and private bar.

Lastly, it is important to note that in order to stem the historically high attrition rate at the Ministry, retain its current crop of staff, as well as attract other experienced counsel from the private bar, the conditions of service and remuneration for counsel at all levels must be improved. As a result, we had set up a taskforce to look into the conditions of service of counsel at the Ministry. The taskforce has now submitted its report and recommendations to me for action. It is our hope that the conditions of service for counsel at the Ministry will be improved soon.

Allow me to add however, that with improvements to the working environment and conditions of service of counsel at the Ministry, there will also be a corresponding expectation that counsel will provide services of the highest professional standard to the public and Government. In this regard, we intend to introduce, at an appropriate time, an internal performance appraisal system within the Ministry to ensure that professional standards are kept at a consistently acceptable level, and to also encourage discipline and accountability in public office.

Thank you!!!

Family members of Lamin Krubally, a man who was found dead in a police cell in Nema-Kunku Police Station are demanding for postmortem report to know the cause of his death in police custody on Wednesday, 12 July, 2017.

According to reliable sources, the late Mr. Krubally was arrested by the police at Nema Kunku Station where he was detained until his untimely death without any clear reasons as to what cause his tragic death.

The devastated family members said they were not allowed to be present during the postmortem. They said it was only the police and a doctor were present in the room without any of the family members. The family of the deceased thought they were barred from the postmortem room because the police were trying to hide something from them.

Family source told this medium that despite several attempts, both the police and the doctor could not give them any explanation as to the cause of death but the photos taken by the police camera man at the postmortem showed injuries on the deceased’s head.

‘‘Why we were not allowed to witness the postmortem? Are they hiding something from us?” family source said.

The brother of the deceased said no explanation was given but they were told to go home when the postmortem document is ready it will be sent to the Office of the Inspector General of Police, Interior Minister and the EFSTH hospital.

‘‘I asked what about the family and the doctor said we should make follow up on him,” he asserted.

Mrs. Rohey Jarju, widow of the deceased has two children, the youngest child is 4 years old. Overwhelmed with grief and sorrow, Rohey is demanding answers from the authorities to explain the cause of her husband’s death in police custody. She sobbingly described her late husband as a responsible hard working man who was the breadwinner of the family.

‘This is the most painful moment of our lives. We want to know what happened at the police station,” Rohey Jarju said.

She added: ‘‘we are deeply saddened. We want to know the truth because he has gone and never to come back. How did my husband die, I also want to know why he died in a police cell while in detention.”

Meanwhile, Lamin Krubally was laid to rest on Monday at Nema Kunku Cemetery in the presence of family members, friends and loved ones.

Lawyer Antouman Gaye, the Special Prosecutor in the trial of the former NIA Director General and others has informed the court about the withdrawal of Sheriff Tambadou from the prosecution team at the High Court in Banjul.

The nine former NIA officers standing trial for the murder of Solo Sandeng, a political activist who was allegedly tortured to death in custody includes Yankuba Badjie, former Director General of NIA, Louis Gomez, former Deputy Director General, Sheikh Omar Jeng, former Director of Operations, Babucarr Sallah, Yusupha Jammeh, Haruna Susso, Tamba Massireh, Lamin Darboe and Lamin Lang Sayang.

When the case was announced this afternoon before Justice Kumba Sillah Camara, the Special Prosecutor informed the court that one of the prosecutors has withdrawn his representation in the case.

“I wish to inform this court that my learned friend Sheriff Tambadou is no longer part of the prosecution team. He has withdrawn his representation in the case,” Special Prosecutor Antouman Gaye said.

The Special Prosecutor has not given any reason why his colleague has withdrawn his representation in the case.

Lawyer C. E Mene counsel of the first accused person (Yankuba Badjie) told the court about filing a brief. He said it was file out of time due to certain circumstances. There was an objection made by the prosecution with regard to oral application urging him to file a motion.

At this juncture, the court stood down for 15 minutes before ruling in favour of the defense saying it has adopted the oral application in the interest of justice and speedy trial.

Meanwhile, the prosecution team are given ten days to respond. The case was adjourned to July 28, 2017.