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bread man
300 Posts |
 Posted - 18 Sep 2012 : 02:04:01
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Kibaaro News has just confirmed that Dr. Amadou Scattred Janneh and Tamsir Jassey were pardoned by President Yahya Jammeh on Monday. Both men will be flown to the United States with Civil Rights Leader Rev. Jesse Jackson.
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It is the mark of intelligence to entertain an idea without accepting it. |
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Momodou
Denmark
11730 Posts |
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Karamba
United Kingdom
3820 Posts |
Posted - 18 Sep 2012 : 10:45:41
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| This is bad news. It is bad because other prisoners have families in tears. Also, it does not have to be Rev Jackson to let anyone off the hook in Gambian jails. That is no respect to Gambian laws. The entire move is baseless. |
Karamba |
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Momodou
Denmark
11730 Posts |
Posted - 18 Sep 2012 : 15:11:49
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Jammeh pardons Amadou Scatred Janneh, Tamsir Jasseh
By Lamin B. Darboe
The Point: Published on Tuesday, September 18, 2012
 President Yahya Jammeh has granted a presidential pardon to former information minister, Amadou Scatred Janneh, and former director-general of Immigration, Tamsir Jasseh, who were jailed for treason.
News of Janneh’s and Jasseh’s pardon came shortly after Jammeh held talks with visiting American civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson Snr, who arrived in Banjul on Sunday.
According to our presidential affairs correspondent, President Jammeh has also offered to pay for the air tickets for both Janneh and Jasseh, who are also American citizens, to fly back to America with Jesse Jackson Snr.
The move was said to be based on Jammeh’s personal relationship with Jackson.
Shortly after holding talks with the Gambian leader, Jesse Jackson Snr told waiting reporters that the two will be flying out of Banjul to the US today Tuesday.
“We appealed to the President to let them go, and he has agreed to release the two Americans and they will leave here tomorrow (Tuesday); they will be with us on the President’s mercy, and on his grace they have been allowed to go,” Jackson announced.
“I hope they will be appreciative of all these gestures by the President; he didn’t have to do it, he chose to do it and I hope they and their families will be grateful,” he added.
On the issue of the recent executions, Jackson told journalists “We appealed to the President to please extend the moratorium on the executions to spare their lives. We respect the sovereignty of The Gambia but such an act like continuing executions would be hurtful.”
On the issue of journalist Chief Manneh, who went missing since July 2006, Jackson said: “There is another case of a missing journalist that has been raised all over and again. He (Jammeh) said if the UN chose to pursue an investigation, they are free to do so.
“There was a very good meeting today with the President, and we look forward to an ongoing and continuing relationship with this country and this leadership.”
It would be recalled that Amadou Janneh was in January this year convicted and sentenced by the special criminal court in Banjul to life imprisonment, after he was found guilty of treason.
Tamsir Jasseh on the other hand was in 2006 convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for his alleged role in the March 2006 abortive coup attempt allegedly masterminded by former chief of defence staff, colonel Ndure Cham.
Source: The Point
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
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Momodou
Denmark
11730 Posts |
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Momodou
Denmark
11730 Posts |
Posted - 22 Sep 2012 : 12:47:39
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Bravo to the release of Janneh and Jasseh, but……
By By D. A. Jawo
The Daily News: Published on Friday, September 21, 2012
Of course every person of morality and conscience would welcome the decision by President Yahya Jammeh to ‘pardon’ Amadou Scattred Janneh and Tamsir Jasseh and release them from their lengthy prison sentences. Indeed, in the case of Scattred Janneh, for instance, he should have never been convicted, let alone sentenced to life imprisonment for merely running a civil society organization which advocated for a peaceful change of regime, which is acceptable in any normal democracy. The worst anyone would have expected him to be charged with was running an illegal society rather than treason and treasonable felony.
However, the release of the two, while welcome, raises quite some pertinent moral questions. Is it morally right for a prominent American like Rev. Jesse Jackson to come to the Gambia and request the release of only two American citizens when there are several others incarcerated in that hell-hole of a jail? No doubt many people would have wished that he instead also requested for the release of several others, in addition to the American citizens.
Probably, with Jesse Jackson’s success, the next to come would be the Nigerians and obtain the release of their citizens, to be followed by the Senegalese and the others whose nationals are also incarcerated in the Gambia.
Therefore, only the Gambian prisoners would eventually be left incarcerated at Mile Two, as they have no one to plead on their behalf.
If indeed President Jammeh had the heart to pardon Janneh and Jasseh, he should have gone the whole hog and pardon all the others in similar circumstances. It is quite unfair for instance to pardon Janneh and leave those young men who were convicted with him or to pardon Jasseh and leave his co-accused in the coup attempt for which they were tried and sentenced, just because they are lucky to also have American citizenship.
There are even reports that Jasseh and Janneh were taken directly from the prison to the airport with only the clothes they had on, without being given the chance to visit their relatives or even take care of other business. That seems to tantamount to them being sent into exile.
While the execution of the nine prison inmates was by all accounts wrong and unfortunate, but to some Gambians opposed to the prevailing system of arbitrariness in this country, the inclusion of Senegalese citizens among them is seen as a blessing in disguise. The involvement of the Senegalese was seen as the trigger for the intense international pressure being mounted on President Jammeh not to continue with the executions. It is very likely that if Senegalese nationals were not involved, Senegal in particular would never have been so concerned, let alone make so much noise about it. So many unpleasant things have been happening in the Gambia prior to that, but both the Senegalese authorities and their media have always turned a blind eye. They were never interested in what goes on in the country.
However, suddenly, we have seen the Senegalese government, civil society and most importantly, the media, which is closely monitored in the Gambia because of the lack of a free press environment, not only putting the executions on the top of their agenda, but also becoming interested in everything that goes on in the Gambia. We can only therefore hope and pray that this focus on happenings in the country would be sustained and henceforth help put the Gambian agenda under continuous international scrutiny.
There is no doubt that the Senegalese involvement in the pressure on President Jammeh has played quite a significant role in getting him to stop further executions, because left to our socalled ‘Councils of Elders’ and religious leaders alone, whatever he does is acceptable to them. Indeed, it is quite obvious that those numerous delegations to State House in the aftermath of the executions to appeal to him to stop any further executions could have been stage managed in order to help him get out of the tight corner he found himself in, while giving the impression that he was succumbing to their appeals rather than accept the fact that he was indeed succumbing to the intense international pressure, particularly from Senegal and the European Union.
We have all heard the apologists of the system making all sorts of noises, defending the legality of the executions, while at the same time, they have all been calling on President Jammeh to stop any further executions, which in reality means that they have never approved the executions in the first place. It is quite obvious that if President Jammeh was to hold a referendum before the executions, more than 90 per cent of Gambians would have voted against it. Therefore, the executions were done against the wishes of the overwhelming majority of Gambians.
There is no doubt that President Jammeh and those who encouraged him to go ahead with the executions have realized the unpopularity of their actions, hence the rush to mobilize the socalled ‘Councils of Elders’ to appeal to him to stop any further executions. While at the same time, inviting prominent personalities like the former Senegalese prime minister, Souleymane Ndene Ndiaye and Rev. Jesse Jackson to the Gambia, which was no doubt part of efforts to help ease the pressure on him.
The US ambassador to the Gambia, Edward Alford was even quoted by CNN saying that “Jackson traveled to Gambia as a private citizen on a trip sponsored by the Gambian government, which covered his flights and accommodations”. It is even very likely that Souleymane Ndene Ndiaye also travelled to the Gambia at the invitation of the government, with all expenses paid. One would therefore wonder whether it was really worth spending all this public money to bring in international dignitaries, apparently as a public relations gimmick in order to deflect the negative fall out of the prisoner executions.
We can therefore all hope and pray that President Jammeh has realized that the executions had gone against the grain and that henceforth, he will gauge the feeling of the people, both at home and abroad before making such rash decisions in the future, and eventually bring such unnecessary negative attention on himself.
ENDS
Source: Daily News |
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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kaanibaa
United Kingdom
1169 Posts |
Posted - 22 Sep 2012 : 13:12:39
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| Damn right he was cornered and started playing his dirty games, what he fails to see is this needle getting in ready position to pierce his ogre eyes . Monster Jammeh will surely fail to rise from this dust , crumbling to the nothingness or lower than he was before his dirty coup dubbed as "bloodless" yet which's aftermath was marred with gigantic floods of blood of innocent citizens and other nationals all in the name of national security.We are sorry to say this but his supporters are worst than that the legendary ostrich which buries it's head in the sand in the belief that it's was in hiding thus safe from peril. Yaya will surely perish and the end is on the way.Talking about his readiness to die for Gambia is cheap; wait until he faces the full wrath of vengeance then we shall see him trembling and begging for mercy ala Gaddafi ! The senegalese press and posters call out gneaw! Gollo hamnah koye bayam, ak famouye reese tattam deh. Why did he not slaughter them Americans hah ! |
Edited by - kaanibaa on 22 Sep 2012 13:17:35 |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 31 Oct 2012 : 01:49:16
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RELATED BANTABA TOPICS;
DAILY OBSERVER NEWS;
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Edited by - kobo on 31 Oct 2012 02:00:10 |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 02 Nov 2012 : 08:56:38
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JOLLOF NEWS;
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Edited by - kobo on 02 Nov 2012 08:57:25 |
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