Justice Minister-Three Junglers To Be Release
The Gambia’s Anthony General and Minister of Justice Aboubacarr Tambedou have confirmed the release of the three top Jungular of former President Yahya Jammeh. Tambedou made these and other remarks during a press conference in Banjul.
According to him, his recommendations for the army to release the three jungulers namely Malick Jatta, Omar Jallow, and Amadou Badjie, three has evoked high emotions among victims’ families and concerned members of the public, that these reactions are quite understandable especially looking at the three killers made before TRRC.
He said that the recommendation to release the three men is not an amnesty as claimed, calling it a false, adding that it is only the TRRC that can recommend amnesty in appropriate cases.
The motive for their release he said is to put the three men in a similar situation as those who have appeared at the TRRC and admitted to participating in human rights violations and abuses. “As you well know, none of them is currently in custody and rightly so,” he said. The TRRC he noted is not a court of law and one of its primary objectives is to establish the truth in exchange for amnesty and the promotion of healing and national reconciliation.
“While we all agree that the “Junglers” are a special category of alleged perpetrators, the reason they have been the only ones in custody all this time, we cannot also afford to treat similarly situated persons differently,” says Tambedou. way.
According to him, the decision to recommend the release of the three men, who have been in custody for over two and half years now, has not been an easy one for him especially considering the victims and their mourning families. But I cannot shy away from making decisions because they may be unpopular. “ I have come to the conclusion that it is in the best interest of our country and the victims to release the three men after their testimonies at the TRRC, Tambedou remarked.
These three men he said have so far provided us with the most chilling details about several incidents under former President Jammeh, that they were encouraged to assist this country, particularly the victims’ families, find answers that have eluded us for many years, and they voluntarily did so. He said that there are others in detention who are still refusing to assist us to establish the truth and it will be unwise to treat those who have assisted us the same way. The cooperation of these three men he said has been very critical to the TRRC process and this should be recognized.
Tambedou called on the understanding of the public and especially the victims, noting that their continued trust and partnership in this process success of our truth commission. However, he urged the victims and their families, in particular, to swallow a bitter pill as he knows that this may be extremely difficult for them. Tambedou I assured his office continued commitment to their cause.
