9 May 2009

Are these ideas produced in the interest of PDOIS a political party? ; Asked Halifa Sallah I don't know (General laughter); Says ASP BAH

"Silence! Order!" Announced clerk

We have been focusing on politics with the objective to document the contemporary history of the Gambia and to help our readers appraise them with the happenings of the past. This we hope will help us forge a genuine democratic dispensation for our dear homeland which we can all be proud of.

In the last edition, the two accused persons cross examined the recalled prosecution witnesses. Let us now follow the re-examination of the prosecutor after the cross e4xamination of Mr. Modou Ceesay.

RE - EXAMINATION BY MISS COKER

Q: Could you look at section 2 of Decree No. 4 .You were asked about Decree .No. 4 and whether it bans any specific newspaper. I want you to tell me what section 2 is all about?

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HALIFA: Your Worship I object to that question because it is dealing with an issue of law and the court is most competent to determine the law.

MISS COKER submitted that she has a right to ask the question; that the purpose of re-examination is to clear any ambiguity caused by cross -examination; that the Defence asked questions on Decree No. 4 and she has the right to re-examine the witness on that.

The question was allowed. Section 2 reads:

A: "Pursuant to section 23 of the Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia 1970 as modified by the Constitution (Modification and Suspension Decree), Decree No. 1 of 1994, the Organs of all political parties which were in existence prior to the coming into force of Decree No. 1 shall cease to exist?

MISS COKER now referred the witness to section 5 of Decree NO. 4, which reads: A: "(1) Any person who prints, publishes, displays, distributes, sells or exposes for sale, or transmits through the post or who, has in his possession any placard, newspaper, book, circular, pictorial representation or any other document or writing whatsoever which is issued or appears to be issued, after the coming into force of this Decree, by or on behalf of or in the interest of any political party or its organ commits an offence.

"(2) Any person who commits an offence under section (1) shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding five thousand dalasi or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to both such fine and imprisonment and any books, periodicals, pamphlets, poster, proclamation, newspaper, letter or any other document or writing in respect of which such person shall have been convicted shall be forfeited."

Q: What is your interpretation?

A: My interpretation is that any person who publishes the organ of a party shall be guilty of an offence. This is not restricted to any political party.

Q: The Decree talks about any organ of a political party?

A: I agree.

At this stage the Court stood down to allow for the arrival of P.W 5, ASP Bah.

RESUMPTION

CROSS-EXAMINATION OF MR. ASP BAH BY HALIFA SALLAH

Q: You said in your testimony that FOROYAA is a political newspaper. How do you know that it is a political newspaper?

A: I know it is a political paper because it carries a symbol of PDOIS.

Q: Did you see the paper before coming to arrest us? -

MISS COKER indicated that the question was ambiguous.

Q: Were you simply instructed to arrest us without having any evidence in hand?

A: I was instructed to come and arrest you due to information that you were selling these papers on Thursday 18th and Friday 19th August.

Q: Were you told the type of paper we were selling? A: Yes. He was shown Exhibit H and asked to examine it.

Q: Were you showed Exhibit H before you came to arrest us? A: No.

Q: You simply go and arrest people without any evidence in hand? (Laughter)

MISS COKER objected to the question. Her objection was overruled.

A: We don't normally do that but on my arrival I found some evidence.

Q: As a Senior Police Officer you acted as a robot. (Laughter).

MISS CORER objected to the question. She said that the witness is not a robot adding that he is an officer of the court.

Halifa Sallah indicated that the object of cross- examination is to discredit the evidence of a witness; that the statement he uttered was meant to reflect a behaviour; that the witness acted without doing any prior investigation to know the material which is supposedly distributed unlawfully. This is why the comment was made, not to show any sign of disrespect that sometimes there can be ulterior motives. He then concluded: That if he sounded offensive he apologized to the Prosecutor. MISS COKER said: Accepted with relief.

Halifa then indicated that he would now want to go to the substance of Exhibit H. He asked the witness to look at the cover and read what he saw.

A: I have seen "FOROYAA"

Q: What is the title?

Apparently the witness did not seem to follow what Halifa Sallah wanted. Halifa then asked him to turn to the first page and read it. The witness read the following: "ON THE PROPER ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

'The Gambia is a society in transition. During a moment of change some may glorify the past or curse it. Others may glorify the present or curse it. The important thing however is to try to understand the past, draw lessons from it that could guide us to shape the present in order to build a better future. This is the most important of all tasks which confronts us today.

After some arrests and detentions, the question of justice has been placed on the National agenda. Opinions are divided. Some feel that after years of plunder of the National wealth with impunity, it is now the turn of the privilege under the PPP regime to taste the bitter pill of persecution. Others rely on the developments to paint the picture that Gambia had a good name abroad during the era of the PPP regime because of the absence of Inhumane and degrading punishment. It is our duty, however, not to romanticize the present or glorify the past. Our duty is to give a correct picture of what was and what is at the moment in order to point out a way forward that would lead to the promotion of the proper dispensation of justice sand enlargement and conservation of liberty."

Q: What you have read so far, is it in the interest of a political party?

A: I don't know.

MISS COKER remarked that witness has scored 10 out of 10 points.

Halifa Sallah asked the witness to continue reading. The Magistrate indicated the time it takes to read the material and questioned the relevance of reading it; that it should be taken as read. Halifa Sallah submitted that he saw it as most relevant, that through cross-examination it would be shown that what is published is not in the interest of a political party.

The Magistrate ruled that he considered the reading relevant and. asked the witness to read. (.laughter) The witness then read the following "In this regard, it must be asserted that all living things require an environment which can foster their free existence and development. In a word, every living organism requires a breathing space under the sun."

"The human being's struggle to acquire such freedom has been the highest and the most determined form of struggle because of the high level of intelligence of the human being and his/her capacity to change his/her environment. Centuries of struggle against those monarchs, oppressors, autocrats of the human race has given rise to a body of principles which have culminated to declarations and charters as the Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of the human being. In short, every human being wants dignity and prosperity."

"Every human being wants to live in- liberty. No one wants to be a slave. No one wants to be subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading-treatment. No one wants to be subjected to arbitrary arrest and detentions. No one wants to be subjected to interference with his/her privacy or an attack on his/her integrity. No one wants to live in fear. No one wants to be deprived of his/her rightfully earned property. No one wants to be deprived of associating with people; no one wants to be deprived of the right to express one's feelings; every one likes to freely participate in the social, political and cultural life of his/her people without any form of discrimination on the basis of political opinion, ethnic origin, language grouping, race, gender, colour, philosophy or belief. No one wants to be deprived of education. Everyone wants to be judged fairly by just and competent judges. Those are all recognized as fundamental human rights and freedoms of human beings."

Q: Is this propaganda for a political party'. .

A: I don't know

Q: I put it to you that these ideas are universally accepted by all civilized decent human beings.

A: You are entitled to your opinion.

ASP BAH: Am I to continue? (Laughter)

The Magistrate proposed that Halifa Sallah to assist the witness, indicating that after reading a portion he should pose a question to the witness. Miss Coker remarked that maybe he is trying to disseminate the contents of the paper.

Halifa Sallah then read the following:

ACCUSATIONS AND COUNTER ACCUSATIONS:

The accusations and counter accusations are many. The detention of some military officers and policemen has led some people to indicate that when the PPP regime was in existence such arrests did not exist. Those who had gone through much suffering after the July 1981 incident do not hesitate to expose how they were kept naked and humiliated; how religious leaders, elders and civil servants were kept in prison which cost many their lives. Of course, anybody can produce an encyclopedia on the abuse of authority which occurred after the July 1981 incident. Many lost their jobs and lives. However; what is important is not to dwell on the atrocities of the past in order to give justification to any violation of fundamental rights in the present situation. Mature human beings should learn from the past in order to avoid future mistakes. In short, change for the better is a question of maintaining standards that are superior to that existed before. This is why PDOIS deems it necessary to deal with the rights of the person under detention.

At this point the Magistrate intervened to-remind Halifa Sallah that he was cross-examining the witness. Halifa then asked the witness:

Q: Are these ideas produced in the interest of PDOIS a political party?

A: I don't know (General laughter)

CLERK: "Silence! Order!"

See next edition as we follow to document the narration of this most important political drama that culminated in court in 1994.