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Breaking News:Gambia:NO Call, No Show Up, At ECOWAS Court!!!
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Breaking News:Gambia:NO Call, No Show Up, At ECOWAS Court!!!
Gambia:NO Call, No Show Up, At ECOWAS Court!!!
Gambian Government Treats Regional Court with "utter contempt."
Lawyer Felana's Request to visit Banjul in search for missing journalist declined!!
.jpg) .jpg) The Gambian Government has openly defied a court summons, requesting them to show up at a Abuja court to defend allegations of "infringing the rights and liberties" of the missing Gambian journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh. The Gambian Ambassador to Nigeria, was served with the said summons, but to the surprise of the Regional Court and observers, the regime which is reputed to be worse human rights violators in Africa, was conspicuously absent in court. Sitting proper could not proceed on July 16 since the defendants in Banjul are apparently treating the sub-regional court with "utter contempt" with their non failure to show up in court. While the case is pending, there is growing fear across the country that the missing journalist might have probably been murdered by the regime. Despite such fears, the regime is not keen at entertaining questions about Chief Manneh's whereabouts. Below is a piece sent to our news room by the Ghana based Media Foundation on the government's failure to show up in court. Please read on…
The government of Gambia on July 16, 2007 failed to make appearance at the Community Court of the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) in Abuja, Nigeria to answer a charge of violating the human rights of Chief Ebrima Manneh, a reporter for the Daily Observer, Banjul-Based pro-government newspaper.
According to a correspondent for Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in Abuja, when the case was called, Manneh's lawyer, Femi Falana declared his intention to proceed with the matter. However, the correspondent said he could not do so because there was no representative of the government. The court confirmed that the Gambian government was duly served the court process through its High Commission in Abuja. The correspondent said the three-man panel of judges refused an oral application by Maneh's lawyer, for the court to allow him to visit his detained client.
MFWA brought legal action at the Community Court demanding an order to compel the government of President Yahya Jammeh, to immediately release Manneh and compensate him adequately. Manneh's disappeared a week after the July, 2006 African Union (AU) Heads of State summit in Banjul. Colleagues of Manneh witnessed his arrest by two plainclothes officers of the NIA at the premises of the Daily Observer. He was suspected to have passed damaging information to a foreign journalist prior to the summit.
Since then he has disappeared with the Gambian Security agencies and police claiming they do not know his whereabouts. Some Gambian observers allege that the disappearance of Manneh could mean he has been either murdered or been so brutally tortured that his captors fear releasing him would provide evidence of their brutalities. Meanwhile, the case has been adjourned to September 26, to enable the government make an appearance.
Kwame Karikari, Prof. Executive Director MFWA Accra
Tel: 233-21-24 24 70 Fax: 233-21-22 10 84
Email: mfwa@africaonline.com.gh
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Posted on Wednesday, July 18, 2007 (Archive on Tuesday, July 31, 2007)
Posted by PNMBAI Contributed by PNMBAI
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