Gambia News : More Mudslinging Against Senegalese Authorities

In the ongoing trial of nine alleged members of the southern Senegalese rebel MFDC movement, the prosecution, on Thursday 29^th November, made further revelations implicating the Senegalese authorities in Dakar. Thursday’s allegations follows last week’s that claimed Senegalese government authorities provided alleged members of the rebel faction with arms , ammunition, cash and other equipment for purposes that suggest attempts at destabilizing The Gambia. The nine men were dragged to the courts following pleas from Senegalese President Wade for their release from Gambian custody. The men are facing multiple charges including “espionage and terrorism.”

Thursday’s hearing was the second trial-within-trial on the cautionary statements of two of the accused persons, Abdou Salam Jammeh and Nuha Jammeh. Both men have claimed their respective statements were made under compulsion and duress.

Testifying on Thursday, detective Amadou Sanyang stated that he was part of the panel that questioned Abdou Salam Jammeh and Nuha Jammeh. He said the men had appeared on three occasions before the panel, where they were interrogated. Mr. Sanyang claimed that the accused informed the panel that the Senegalese government had given them many vehicles and air tickets, and 50m CFA to facilitate the travel of their relatives to Mecca and Rome. He added that Mr. Abdou Salam Jammeh had told the panel that he was the one who went to Sierra Leone to buy arms and ammunition, but that the ship in which the items were being freighted sank along the coast of Guinea. He also claimed said the accused gave his statements freely and willingly without any force, adding that the accused in fact wrote his own statement in the presence of Tijan Bah, an independent witness. Detective Sanyang also stated that Mr. Nuha Jammeh had identified himself as the financial officer of the group and had revealed that they had been allocated a 3m CFA per month subvention from the Senegalese government through one Latif Hydara in the presence of an official from the Senegalese embassy in Banjul. He said “that after the interrogation, the accused gave his statement freely and willingly without any force or threats in the presence of Tijan Bah, an independent witness.” Hearing is to continue on the 5th December 2007.

Src: Gambia Journal, The