(JollofNews) – A Gambian lawyer who represented seven men serving life behind bars for plotting to overthrow the government of President Yahya Jammeh have appealed to the Gambian leader to show mercy on his clients and release them.
Lt. General Lang Tombong Tamba, former Chief of Defense Staff of the Gambia Armed Forces, Brigadier General Omar Bun Badjie, Lt. Colonel Kawsu Camara alias Bombardier, former Deputy Inspector General of Police, Modou Gaye, former diplomat Gibril Ngorr Secka and Businessman Abdoulie Joof, were in July 2010 found guilty by the high court in Banjul for procuring arms, ammunitions, equipment and mercenaries from Guinea Bissau to stage a coup against the government of President Yahya Jammeh.
They all denied ever plotting to effect a regime change in Banjul through the barrel of the gun and have unsuccessfully tried to overturn their convictions.
But in a surprise move, their lawyer, Sheriff Marie Tambedou said they have “learnt lessons” and wants the president to forgive them for the benefit of their families and relatives.
In an open letter to the Gambian leader which was authored without the instructions of his clients, Mr Tambedou said his clients are condemned by the courts for “trying to change what Gambians chose and Allah’s Will” and pardoning them would only increase Mr Jammeh’s stature to Gambians and the world at large.
“When it is Allah who has chosen you as leader for us, it does not lie in the wish of a few to thwart what Allah has decided, and what the majority of Gambians desire,” Mr Tambedou wrote.
“The fact that my clients were able to enjoy and pursue their rights to defend themselves and exhaust their appeals to the highest court in the country, is in no small measure thanks to your respect for the rule of law and non-interference with the judiciary.”
There is no immediate respond from President Jammeh’s office.
