Gambia at crossroads

It’s rather unfortunate that the Gambia – which in the days of PP – prided itself with being the champion of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, is at crossroads.
Even the very regime that continues to bulldoze the rights of innocent citizens does not know where to go. The reality is that it’s succumbed by fear, and therefore resort to applying all kinds of tactics to trample on dissent.
The railroaded and unfair jailing of innocent journalists, which came on the heels of gross violations of citizens’ human rights in the form of disappearances, illegal detentions, unsolved murders, arson attacks, among others, was calculated to cause fear among Gambians of all walks of life.
Soon the Jammeh regime will swallow the bitter pills of putting behind bars people like Sam Sarr who has rendered invaluable service to the nation.
The heartlessness of the regime and its remote controlled judge was evident by the denial of Pap Saine to undergo a heart surgery and separation of Sarata Jabbi from her seven month old weaning baby. This happens under the directive of a regime that claim to prioritise women’s empowerment. Evidently, Sarata has been punished for challenging the regime rather than singing its praises.
As the author of Animal Farm, George O’well said, “not all birds are equal.”
It was no surprise that Mr. Saine had been hospitalised after few days in horrible prison. Afterall, the doyen journalist had earlier collapsed during the trial.
We will continue to monitor the conditions of our colleagues with our ears and eyes until they are released. Their health and survival lies in the hands of the Jammeh regime. By Musa Saidykhan