The charge sheet for the Gunjur environmentalists is full of fabrications intended to violate citizens as was the case in the past 22 years.
1. The Police deliberately claimed that Amadou Scattered Janneh was “at large” when they know that to be false. For someone to be claimed to be ‘at large’ means such a person is on the run from justice.
Amadou was merely out of the country running his legitimate business when the police came up with their trumped up charge! How therefore can they state that the man was at large?
2. The Gunjur environmentalists never entered the Golden Lead premises much more threaten the manager or staffs. Yet the police fabricated that such incident did happen!
Does the IGP think we are still in Yaya Jammeh mode? It is only in Police States that the police would frame, set up and lure citizens into situations only to fabricate a narrative in order to criminalize citizens for the purpose of capturing and tormenting citizens.
It is so disheartening and concerning that The Gambia Police Force would dare to frame and fabricate unfounded stories just to implicate decent citizens in imaginary crimes!
This is not the kind of police Gambians deserve. We deserve an honest, truthful and patriotic police force that understands that their one and only job is to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of Gambians.
These environmentalists are innocent. The police must drop their bogus charges against them and refrain from giving false information to public officers and citizens.
Gambians must be seriously worried and frightened by these illegal act of the Police. If we allow this illegality to pass then we are risking the rights and lives of each and every citizen. This is because the police can now frame any citizen just to send you to jail.
We need system change in The Gambia Police Force.
For The Gambia Our Homeland.
Just on the first point Madi, since this is a “legal” matter, I prefer a legal definition of “at large” and here it is:-
Black’s Law Dictionary: What is AT LARGE?
(1) Not limited to any particular place, district, person, matter, or question.
(2) Free; unrestrained; not under corporal control; free from restraint.
So the interpretation of “at large” as “on the run” is here used by my brother Madi as an emotive and calculated political interpretation to bash the police with. I am sure the police, led by a Lawyer Police Chief, intended the legal definition of the term “at large” … UNLESS
Dr Amadou Sanneh was on bail in The Gambia when he travelled to the USA – and I don’t think he was on bail because he is too intelligent an individual to travel when he is on bail. (Of course, if I left The Gambia for another country while I am on bail I would be “on the run” – unless I have permission from the police or court to travel out of the country).
The GPF and it’s reputation has always been in shambles. Professionalism is Chinese to them. This emanates from the GPF’s recruitment model that often than not dissuade high school and university graduates from applying for intake. This is not peculiar to only the police, rather, all security services are viewed through the same lens. And rightly so.
So if The Gambia police is telling you someone is “at large”, the first thing that comes to my mind before consulting a law dictionary is that the person in question has absconded. That won’t be an unfair assumption in this case.
Take for example all the people who flee after Yaya left power. They are said to be “at large”, even though they are wanted persons. Using the same phrase, will make ordinary people to understand that Amadou has also abscond. It’s called semantic field extension.
This is why many countries now have communication experts in their public relations departments of their law enforcement organs.
“Out of the jurisdiction of The Gambia” would have sufficed for legal parlance.
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There is an audio making the rounds in Whatsapp fora from one Omar Touray (I know him personally) insulting Adama and Ousainou. There is an accompanying video where is seen and heard to be apologizing to the two men for using abusive language against them. The recording is done by police officers who went to arrest him and to transport him to the Kairaba Police Station.
Now here is the problem with the attitude of the arresting officers: Through intimidation, they forced Omar to confess to a crime during a drive to the police station without the presence of a lawyer. Am betting no one read him his right to remain silent. An illegal interrogation has taken place and without proper authority to record his image and illegally distribute it. That’s a scandal each and every Gambian should bow down to in shame. I will tell Omar to pursue legal action against those ignorant self serving dimwits.
Insulting another person or a public official is a misdemeanor. Yet, the way they were verbally harassing the gentleman made him look like a high stake criminal and we dare to call this a new Gambia.
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GPF should be bashed and overhauled to serve the people not the other way round.