The Gambian opposition leader, Ousainou Darboe, and several opposition activists were convicted by the court for participating in an unauthorised demonstration. As per report, they were sentenced to nearly three years imprisonment for the petty crime. The demonstration had been organised in April by the United Democratic Party to protest alleged custodial death of a party worker. The main opposition party of Gambia alleged that their worker was tortured and murdered in the police custody. The report about the custodial death was initially revealed by the Amnesty International. It claims that it is the part of rising human rights violations in the country. Anyway, the Gambian supremo, Yahya Jammeh, had strongly denounced the allegations in the past. Meanwhile, the court observed that the opposition leader and his party members had not secured permission from the authorities before conducting the demonstration. Notably, the opposition leader and his co-activists sung the national anthem after hearing the verdict to express their disagreement over the dictatorial political system of the country, which tries to suppress all dissident voices using force. Unfortunately, the Gambian President tried to mock at the custodial murder allegation by calling it as a normal incident. Since last twenty years, Mr Jammeh is uninterruptedly enjoying political supremacy in this African country. He has managed to suppress all dissident voices. However, the country is set to conduct an election on coming December. The supremo will have to prove his strength in that election or else he might have to go through a tough time.
Vignesh
Photo Courtesy : Google/ images may be subject to copyright
