Africans Rising for peace, justice, and dignity demands the immediate release and acquittal of comrade Dr. Amadou Scattred Janneh. We have been blessed to count Dr. Janneh amongst our ranks, he is a decent fellow African who continues to support worthy causes across borders.
Dr. Janneh was the former Minister of Information and Communication in the Gambia, he was sentenced to life in prison for treason after distributing T-shirts with the slogan “End to Dictatorship Now”. After international protest from organizations including Amnesty International and an appeal by US activist Jesse Jackson, Janneh was pardoned and returned to the US. At the dawn of the Gambian revolution, Janneh returned home and has remained faithful to his fight against corruption and injustice especially in his hometown, Gunjur in the Kombo South district.
Dr.Janneh’s arrest is in connection with Golden Lead’s recent scandal. Golden Lead is a Chinese fish meal processing company that went rogue and was fishing illegally fishing in the Gambian waters. Not only was the Golden Lead fishing illegally, but they were also disposing on their ship’s waste through giant pipes across Gunjur’s beautiful coastal line. This invasive act triggered many of the local youth and activists, they demanded that their newly appointed government stops such an injustice and in the absence of any action, they took matters into their own hands and dismantled the pipe themselves. Dr.Janneh was among the activists who protested against Golden Lead and he was present when the pipe was being removed by local citizens.
Dr. Amadou Janneh’s subsequent detention at the Gunjur police station and seizure of his US passport was in relation to his activism against coastal pollution by Golden Lead. The Africans Rising community sees this as an outrageous attack on Dr. Janneh’s rights, it is also an unacceptable insult to the dignity of our Gambian brothers and sisters who continue to walk on an untraveled path of positive change across their country.
The police officers arrested Dr. Janneh at his uncle’s funeral service, at the Gunjur cemetery. He was, however, released yesterday evening on police bail in the sum of D500,000. He was asked to report to Brikama Police Station on Wednesday, October 3rd. Earlier today, Dr. Janneh was charged and detained again at the Brikama Police Station.
These are similar situations that our fellow Gambians bravely confronted during the reign of dictator Yahya Jammeh. Injustices like these across the continent continue to the raise the bar of selective justice. The speedy release of Dr. Janneh will signal the fair operations of the Gambia’s justice system, it would also reassure us all that certain Gambian institutions are not being tampered with by foreign investors. To Dr. Janneh, we stand with you brother, with our hearts and souls.
