The Daily IIJ

Following the ‘death sentence’ handed to Lt. General Langtombong Tamba and seven others, including security chiefs and business tycoons for an alleged coup plot in 2009 by High Court judge Emmanuel Amadi. The IIJ-Web-Blog contributor, Modou S. Joof takes a stroll on the streets of Banjul to seek the views of the public in that regard.
Speaking to a man who only introduces himself as Lamin Badjie, he noted that he was saddened by the judgment of the Court and believes that to some extent, the trial was not ‘fair’.
In his view, the witnesses that the judge relied on are not reliable. Asked why, he said: “because they are criminals and are not trustworthy.”
Badjie, who has been keenly following the Court proceedings said Ebrima Marreh (the first prosecution witness) is a thief and he admitted stealing Langtombong’s wife cheque and at the same time using different identities.
“So for me he is not some one to be trusted, he is a liar, that is my opinion and for Rui Jabbi Gassama (the second prosecution witness), he openly told the court that he is a drug dealer and that alone is clear that he cannot be trusted,” he stressed.
When he had to the chance to express himself freely, Saikou Secka equally said he was shocked and surprised to see what he called ‘eight loyal Gambians’ sentence to death. For him, having followed the case, it was clear that there was no evidence against the convicts.
He added that the judge trusted criminals and untruth loyal Gambians whom he said has no criminal records. “It is very interesting, it is a surprise to me truly speaking,” he said.
Mr. Ousainou Camara of Serrekunda for his part told our reporters that he has been following the trial from the start and that in his opinion, the convicts are innocent. “They were just accused of the crime, but looking at the testimony of the prosecution witnesses and that of the accused persons you can see that they are innocent,” he opined.
Camara said: “I think the president should forgive them, he is a man with a good and big heart and we are calling on him to forgive them as he has the power to do so.”
Another person who identified himself only as Bakary, a resident of Bijilo, he said hearing the news of the sentencing took away his happiness as he was in a good mood prior to the judgment.
Our contributor was in Court and had earlier taken views of those that witness the ruling, Saikou Barrow was one of them and he said, ‘as a Gambian I am saddened to see my fellow Gambians to be sentence to death for an offence that I think they did not committed’.
However, he admitted that not much can be done about it as an ordinary citizen, saying it is the court’s decision but ‘I call on the defence counsels to appeal against the judgment and hope they get a better ruling.
According to him, he had been following the case on newspaper publications and understood that the sentencing was only based on evidences given by prosecution witnesses (Ebrima Marreh and Rui Jabbi Gassama).
He suggested that the country’s judicial system should be ‘Gambianized’, arguing that there are Gambians who are capable of handling the positions manned by foreigners in the judicial system. In his view, ‘through out the World, it is only in The Gambia that the Chief Justice is a foreigner.
Former Gambian Chief of Defence Staff Lieutenant General Langtombong Tamba, former Intelligence Chief Lamin Bo Badjie, former Deputy Chief of Police Modou Gaye, Brigadier General Omar Bun Mbye, Lieutenant Colonel Kawsu Camara, Diplomat Gibril Ngorr Secka, and Business Tycoons Abdoulie Joof andYoussef Ezzeddine were arranged before the High Court in Banjul on March 19, 2010 and charged on three Counts of treason, charges they denied. However, Count Three was struck-out by the judge on the day of the sentencing.
The Prosecution called sixteen witnesses during the four months proceedings in order to prove their case beyond all reasonable doubt. Earlier on, the defence put forward a ‘no case to answer submission’ which was dismissed by the Court on May 17, 2010 and the accused persons opened their defence. At the end of their defence, contradicting written addresses were filed by the Chief Prosecutor Richard N. Chenge and the Defence Counsels among them Senior Lawyer Pap Cheyassin Secka.
On July 15, 2010 Judge Emanuel A. Amadi finally sentence all eight accused persons to death. “After going through the evidence of the prosecution and the defence, I find all the accused persons guilty and accordingly sentence them to death on two counts,” Judge Emmanuel Amadi said amidst wailing and fainting relatives and sympathizers.