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Gambia News : Senegalese National Sentenced For Espionage

A Magistrates Court in Banjul , presided over by Magistrate Mboto on Thursday 12^th March, found a Senegalese national guilty of spying and sentenced him to five  years imprisonment, with the option of a D8,000 fine.  Mr. Suwaibou Ndiaye got convicted after he had pleaded guilty to two counts of spying contrary to clauses of the Criminal Code and Economic Crime.

According to the prosecution, Mr. Ndiaye between the months of January and February 2008, in the city of Banjul , communicated an information about the route of a Gambian canoe loaded with smuggled goods to one Pap Diallo and his colleagues at the Senegal Customs, which led to its seizure by the Senegalese Custom officers.

The prosecutors claimed Mr. Ndiaye’s action caused “economic loss to the Republic of The Gambia,” The convicted man plead for mitigation saying he is the only bread winner for his family and that he had already spent some time in detention. Last year Gambian security forces arrested several Senegalese Customs officers and charged them with illegal possession of firearms in Gambian territorial waters.

The officers had been pursuing smugglers when they were arrested in Gambian territorial waters. Gambian leader President Jammeh later granted the men amnesty after a court sentenced them to long prison terms. Re-export to neighboring countries, which the Senegalese consider to be  smuggling, is a major cornerstone of the Gambian economy. Delivering ruling on the case, Magistrate Mboto expressed the need to stop what she described as “rampant Senegalese spying” in The Gambia.

Src: Gambia Journal, The