Gambia : 37 Senegalese Get One Month Imprisonment

Feb 28,2007 00:00 by Anna

The Bundung Magistrates’ Court, presided over by Magistrate Amina Saho, yesterday convicted and sentenced 37 Senegalese to one-month imprisonment. The men were found guilty of illegally trying to use Gambian waters to sail to Spain contrary to section 222 of the criminal code, Laws of The Gambia. According to the particulars of offence, the men on the 22nd of February 2007 at the Bakau beach illegally boarded a vessel with the intent to get to Spain without documents.

According to prosecutor 453 Touray, the accused persons were arrested by the security agents. During the arrest, he went on, eight Senegalese ID Cards and a voter’s card were found. He further told the court that most of them paid D25, 000.00 to an agent who apparently absconded.

The accused persons, who were represented by Lawyer Mboge, all pleaded guilty. Defence Counsel Mboge pleaded for clemency, saying that they are first offenders.

In her ruling, Magistrate Saho sentenced all the accused persons to one-month imprisonment at the end of which they would all be deported.