By Adama Makasuba
Top politician and leader of the United Democratic Party, lawyer Ousainu Darboe, has said the former Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh complicit in crimes against humanity especially the death of one of UDP’s pillar, Ebrima Solo Sandeng in 2016 after calling for electoral reforms.
“I have always believed and I still believe that what was done was at the behest of [former] President Jammeh. He knew these things after all even if the act was going on if he didn’t know [but] subsequently he knew.
“There were newspapers reports [and] he knew these people. So, he is complicit in this and I think certainly he is [a] prime [suspect] He should be accused number one in any of these trials,” he said as he shed tears in remorse to the late Mr Sandeng five years ago.
Meanwhile, speaking the purported return of Jammeh, lawyer Darboe replied: “I don’t think that’s impossible if there is will on the part of the authorities it can be done. After all I present the fact that we do not have an extradition treaty with Equatorial Guinea for him [Yahya Jammeh] to be brought to The Gambia to be tried for offenses against our laws.”
“But obviously what had taken place to me appears to be crimes against humanity. And if it is crimes against humanity, the International Criminal Court certainly shall have jurisdiction and I want to say this that it is time that some representation is made to the ICC prosecutors so that they can open up a formal investigation into the alleged atrocities under the watch of [former] President Yahya Jammeh including rape,” he continued.
According to him, if he was still the minister of foreign affairs, he would ensure that The Gambia lobby for a position saying “and that position would present a resolution to the AU [African Union] to Equatorial Guinea should handover President Yahya Jammeh to The Gambian state of to any other state where prosecution can take place.”