Gambian politician Cum Publisher arrested, charged
Halifa Sallah charged with spying, Sedition, Remanded in Custody
Appearing before a jam-packed courtroom in The Gambia’s western regional town of Brikama, 35km off the capital Banjul, famed Gambian sociologist, human rights crusader and politician Hon. Halifa Sallah pleaded not guilty to a barrage of sedition and spying charges.
The veteran politician and former Pan-African parliamentarian as well as 2006 presidential candidate for the opposition National Alliance for Democracy and Development (NADD) was on Wednesday March 11, 2009 charged with “controlling an unlawful procession in Makumbaya village, 14 kilometers off Banjul, holding an assembly in Makumbaya that could incite hatred or disaffection towards the government of The Gambia and gathering information that could be useful to the enemy” contrary to the new amended colonial laws of The Gambia
Sallah who pleaded not guilty to the charges was initially granted bail by the state, but Nigerian born trial magistrate Olajubutu Kayode’s preposterous bail conditions left Sallah with no option but to go to Mile II.
The bail conditions are that Halifa Sallah should provide one million Gambian Dalasis (US$41,000), get three Gambian sureties, who must be two retired Brigadiers General of The Gambia National Army or two retired Inspectors General of The Gambia Police with eight years of retirement and a village head in the Western Region of the country where Brikama is the regional capital. He was remanded following failure to meet the bogus bail conditions that the court imposed.
Reacting to the magistrate’s bizarre ruling, the intrepid politician told a highly charged courtroom that “No one should cry for me. I know what I was doing and I know what it could lead to. If I have to go to jail or die for the freedom of others,” he reasoned, “then I am prepared to be the sacrificial lamb. I will not ask any retired military personnel to bail me, because I am a democrat and I don’t want to associate myself with undemocratic practices. I prefer being in jail than sitting outside and watching people’s rights being violated by others.”
It can be recalled that Halifa Sallah was arrested on Sunday following a fact-finding tour of the village of Makumbaya where armed military men masquerading as witch hunters’ abducted poor, innocent villagers. Sallah is expected back in court on March 25, 2007.
Meanwhile, he remains under remand at Banjul’s Mile II Prisons (Africa’s hell on earth) where he has been intermittently detained several times since President Jammeh came to power on July, 22, 1994 promising to fix corruption and deliver the Gambian people from misrule. It can also be recalled that in July, 1994 Halifa Sallah and colleague, Sidia Jatta were arrested by the AFPRC, the military junta that propelled then army lieutenant Yahya Jammeh, a quasi-literate to the pinnacle of political power. In that arrest, the Foroyaa newspaper co-editors, Sallah and Jatta were charged with publishing a political paper in contravention of the junta’s draconian Decree No.1 that swept away The Gambia’s Republican Constitution. After a protracted legal battle in which the duo represented themselves, the state lost.
By: Ebrima Sankara
CULL: Gambia Echo online newspaper
Appearing before a jam-packed courtroom in The Gambia’s western regional town of Brikama, 35km off the capital Banjul, famed Gambian sociologist, human rights crusader and politician Hon. Halifa Sallah pleaded not guilty to a barrage of sedition and spying charges.
The veteran politician and former Pan-African parliamentarian as well as 2006 presidential candidate for the opposition National Alliance for Democracy and Development (NADD) was on Wednesday March 11, 2009 charged with “controlling an unlawful procession in Makumbaya village, 14 kilometers off Banjul, holding an assembly in Makumbaya that could incite hatred or disaffection towards the government of The Gambia and gathering information that could be useful to the enemy” contrary to the new amended colonial laws of The Gambia
Sallah who pleaded not guilty to the charges was initially granted bail by the state, but Nigerian born trial magistrate Olajubutu Kayode’s preposterous bail conditions left Sallah with no option but to go to Mile II.
The bail conditions are that Halifa Sallah should provide one million Gambian Dalasis (US$41,000), get three Gambian sureties, who must be two retired Brigadiers General of The Gambia National Army or two retired Inspectors General of The Gambia Police with eight years of retirement and a village head in the Western Region of the country where Brikama is the regional capital. He was remanded following failure to meet the bogus bail conditions that the court imposed.
Reacting to the magistrate’s bizarre ruling, the intrepid politician told a highly charged courtroom that “No one should cry for me. I know what I was doing and I know what it could lead to. If I have to go to jail or die for the freedom of others,” he reasoned, “then I am prepared to be the sacrificial lamb. I will not ask any retired military personnel to bail me, because I am a democrat and I don’t want to associate myself with undemocratic practices. I prefer being in jail than sitting outside and watching people’s rights being violated by others.”
It can be recalled that Halifa Sallah was arrested on Sunday following a fact-finding tour of the village of Makumbaya where armed military men masquerading as witch hunters’ abducted poor, innocent villagers. Sallah is expected back in court on March 25, 2007.
Meanwhile, he remains under remand at Banjul’s Mile II Prisons (Africa’s hell on earth) where he has been intermittently detained several times since President Jammeh came to power on July, 22, 1994 promising to fix corruption and deliver the Gambian people from misrule. It can also be recalled that in July, 1994 Halifa Sallah and colleague, Sidia Jatta were arrested by the AFPRC, the military junta that propelled then army lieutenant Yahya Jammeh, a quasi-literate to the pinnacle of political power. In that arrest, the Foroyaa newspaper co-editors, Sallah and Jatta were charged with publishing a political paper in contravention of the junta’s draconian Decree No.1 that swept away The Gambia’s Republican Constitution. After a protracted legal battle in which the duo represented themselves, the state lost.
By: Ebrima Sankara
CULL: Gambia Echo online newspaper
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