Jammeh’s homecoming plans follows jurists' call for prosecution

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By AMADOU MANJANG

The former president of the Gambia, Yahya Jammeh has in a recently speech said he will return to The Gambia.

Jammeh who did not state the date of his return made the announcement on Saturday at Garawol and Koina through a telephone call from Equatorial Guinea as he speaks to GDC-led alliance rally.

Meanwhile, international Jurists on Wednesday called for an ECOWAS backed court to prosecution his worst crimes.

Critics argued that Jammeh’s journey back home may be the journey to jail suggesting that he is betting on Kandeh victory for his possible return.

“I heard people are saying that Yahya Jammeh is in exile and he will not come back to The Gambia. I will come to the Gambia,” Jammeh bragged.

Jammeh urged the electorate to vote for Mamma Kandeh so that the Gambia to regain its “independence, dignity, prosperity, security and happiness”.

“I left for Equatorial Guinea because of an agreement with ECOWAS, AU and UN. Unfortunately, the government of [President] Barrow did not respect that agreement, and the AU, ECOWAS and UN did not enforce the agreement we signed,” he said.

No Impunity

Adama Dieng, Special Adviser to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said: “Whether it is in The Gambia, in another African country, before a special court, or at the ICC, justice must happen and justice will happen.”

Reed Brody, an official of the International Commissions of Jurist said that Jammeh could be tried international by invoking his massacre of 59 West African migrants.

He said that the mobilisation of political will among West African states like Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Cote D’voire, Liberia, Congo, and Sierra Leone whose citizen were killed by in the Gambia in 2005 can lead to the prosecution of Jammeh.

Brody among other international jurists called for ECOWAS backed court (hybrid court) to persecution Jammeh for his crimes.

“If we get Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and so on, I think it will be very difficult for even the president of Equatorial Guinea to say no to Jammeh extradition,” he said.

Salieu Taal, President of the Gambia Bar Association, internationalization of the court could provide more capacity and give victims a greater role in trials.

Analysts said there may be no journey of safe return or to escape prosecution for Jammeh.