The Attorney General and Minister of Justice Abubacarr Tambedou, disclosed that The Gambia Government is not yet ready to proceed with the prosecution of alleged junglars, who have been in state custody since the 2016 change of the regime.
Minister Tambedou was responding to questions raised during a presser organised by his office in Banjul, where he also revealed that the TRRC will be officially launched on 15th October, 2018.
“We will not deny that these Junglars have been held for a long time now and they have not be brought to the court since then, which pose a challenge for us in terms of dealing with them.
The AG added that the accused person admitted to have committed the alleged heinous crimes in the country..
According to him, The Gambia government have been working with a team of international experts on the situation of the allege junglars in a bid to take concrete stance on the way forward, saying the situation of the allege junglars posed a serious issue to the government knowing that, it is dealing with a group that have admitted to committing serious crimes of that nature in the country.
“What do you do with a group of people who have accepted committing very terrible crimes and you are not yet ready in terms of the personals and structures in place to undertake such a heavy trial, noting that he think this country is not yet ready to proceed with trials like this.
According to him, the Solo Sandeng case is coming to two years and that lawyers are still battling at the prosecution stage, noting that even though five senior members of the bar are involve in the proceedings the case is far from close.
“We will admit that the junglars are in detention, they have not been tortured, we know where they are and we are willing to allow the international community, including organisations like the International Red Cross to visit them. We will allow them medical visits so that everyone can confirm that they have not been mistreat in anyway or form;” the justice minister told the press team.
According to him, government is working to find solution to the allege junglars case, which he emphasis posed a serous challenge them like any other case.
On the state of preparation for the commencement of the TRRC, the Attorney General disclosed to the press that the commission will be launched on 15th of October, 2018 at Dunes Hotel.
AG Tambedou added that, all preparations have been done towards smooth running of the TRRC, including the appointments of eleven (11) commissioners, adding that the 11 Commissioners identified included representatives from all the regions of the country and the Diaspora.
The Attorney General went further to reveal that Mr. Essa Faal has been appointed as the lead council of the commission, who will be assisted by Ms. Horejah Bala-Gaye and a small team of lawyers.
“The TRRC is lining up a few witnesses to commence public hearings soon after the launching event. The Secretariat will announce to the public the exact commencement date” he disclosed.
Author: Kebba Ansu Manneh
