A former Gambian minister who was detained last weekend for alleged witness tampering was Monday given a million Dalasi court bail.
Yankuba Touray, a former AFPRC junta member and minister who held various portfolios during Ex-President Yahya Jammeh’s 22-year presidency, was arrested on Saturday and detained at Kairaba Police Station following a complaint by the Ministry of Justice over concerns expressed by the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) that he had attempted to tamper or interfere with one of its witness, ex-army Sergeant, Alagie Kanyi.
The commission also expressed fear that Touray had attempted to pervert the cause of justice by concealing evidence that could potentially incriminate him and junta colleagues in alleged atrocities and extra-judicial executions meted out to citizens while in power.
Prosecutors alleged that on or about the 5th January 2019, at Kanifing and diverse places, the former minister with intent to obstruct or interfere with the work of the TRRC, had called Alagie Kanyi, through his mobile phone and told him that he should not mind the commission, as they cannot do anything.
Prosecutors said Touray phone call suggests or amounts to interfering with the work of the commission in the discharge of its functions.
The former minister rejected the allegations and was granted bail by Principal Magistrate Isatou Janneh-Njie of the Kanifing Court.
The case continues.
A MODEST RESPONSE TO THOSE WHO WANT TO ABSOLVE “KILLERS” AND “TORTURERS” WITH A NARRATIVE OF “I WAS ORDERED TO KILL OR TORTURE”, “THEY MADE ME DO IT”, OR “THEY WERE ORDERED TO “KILL” OR “TORTURE”.
In a Court of Law, attempts to deflect and deny one’s Culpability and Responsibility of killing another person with a “they made me do it”, or I was ordered to kill or be killed, therefore, I am not Culpable or responsible for the killing” is not and has never been an acceptable or reasonable Defense. It might be a mitigating factor, but not a Defense. Those who gave direct orders to others to kill are as Culpable and responsible as the killers. Accepting these Truths and Facts about the reality of what happened in the Gambia during the Second Republic would go a long way to bring about Healing and potentially Reconciliation. Denial of it may serve our individual Self-serving Constitution and Mindset, but is not Sustainable in the long run. After all, one of the first Cardinal Rules of Military Command and Discipline is the “Right to Refuse an Order that is Contrary to the Values and Principles Governing the Conduct of an Officer and a Gentleman of a Military Service”. One may argue that “hindsight is 20/20” and that it is easy for others to make judgements one way or another. However, I am of the opinion that, those who accept the job of Protecting the National Welfare and Common Good of a Nation by joining the military of a Nation, ought to have a good sense of what is expected of them. No Coup is legitimate and no soldier should be rewarded for making a Coup or joining a Coup against a legitimately elected and constituted government. Conversedly, when armed men and women decide to stage a Counter Coup, there is an understanding that, unlike a Coup in which a Civilian, unarmed government that is forcefully overthrown by armed members of the military, Counter Coups are by their definition and nature an “Affair” between two armed members of the same military. In such a case or circumstance, it is a matter of “kill or be killed. I am not be flippant or insensitive about loss of lives in such an event. However, I am not willing to equate it with a Military Coup against a Duely Elected Civilian Government. Gambia and African Nations need to demand that their Militaries institute a Clear and Defined Lessons of Civics, Citizenship and Loyalty to the Common Good and Welfare of the Gambia and the Public Institutions. Above all, the military should not be Politicised nor ethonocentrically Constituted or Promoted. Doing so would only create Discontentment and Instability within the Ranks and File Officers of the Military and in turn Destabilize the Nation. Let the Past inform the Present and Future. Again, if my opinion offends anyone, that is not my intention, just expressing what I believe to be the Truth and Facts of Life.
Sidi, no one is exonerating Alagie Kanyi. There is a deep soul searching in that guy’s community. He had the choice to say no even if that would amount to his own death.
But what Bourne and I are saying, is that the order to kill didn’t emanate from Kanyi. Otherwise, he would have being sentenced to death by Jammeh for killing Koro Ceesay. So the responsibility for killing the 11. November 1994 soldiers and countless others including Koro lies at the door step of Jammeh, Sabally, Singhateh, Touray and who ever took part in the decision to kill people extrajudicially.
The Nuremberg trial is an example. The regular killers at the concentration camps were not prosecuted in that trial. These executors of orders were prosecuted in other courts.
But Tried in the Nuremberg court were the top echelons of the nazi regime who occupied the “control centers” of governmental power.
Mr Bourne and Kinteh Kemo you are all absolutely right in what you are saying about Mr Bojang. It saddened me greatly that there are some amongst us who have no empathy for victims of the horrendous crimes committed during the military dictatorship. He has been on this forum for years defending the indefensible, he’s no different from those who deny that the holocaust ever took place.
It is quite clear to all that none of you were trying to exonerate Mr Kanyi but rather to explain to us different legal implication involved in the TRRC process.
Most of the APRC supporters will not accept the truth even if it smacks them right in the face.