Musa Bassadi Jawara has described the prosecution of a certain Naba Darboe by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) as a siege on free speech.
The IGP last week opened criminal trial against Ms. Darboe on charges, bordering on the Parental Insult legislation that imposes a fine or penalty for directing parental insults at the President, Cabinet ministers, civil servants among others.
Some criticized the law for being skewed to shield the executive and other branches of the government and civil service from parental insults.
She was arraigned before the Brusubi Magistrates’ Court and subsequently remanded on bail in the sum of D50,000. Her sureties must also surrender their travel documents to the office of the court’s registrar.
The particulars of her alleged offense indicated that she directed a parental insult at the President over her frustration and irritation over a poor road network.
However, to political commentator Musa Bassadi Jawara, this legal action against Naba by the Gambia’s police chief has effectively put free speech under siege.
“The prosecution of Mariama Naba Darboe for insulting the president is a mis-allocation of national resources and an infringement on free speech, undermining the democratic progress made since the end of autocratic rule,” he wrote on Friday afternoon.
Jawara opined there should be presidential intervention to free Naba and that the time has come to better spend judicial resources.
“The president should intervene, dismiss the charges, and reconsider the recently enacted law to prevent such cases in the future. It’s time to prioritize justice over petty grievances and let the courts focus on real issues rather than policing opinions,” he stated.
