By Rohey Jadama
Justice O Otaba of the Special Criminal Division of the High Court in Banjul has granted bail to the detained former Deputy 
Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Mamadou Sarjo Jallow, who has been detained for 1 month now, in the sum of D200,000.
Lawyer Antouman A.B Gaye, counsel for the applicant, filed a motion seeking for an order to unconditionally release the applicant from NIA headquarters in Banjul or on bail. The applicant was arrested on the 2 September, 2016 by plainclothes officers at Manjai and detained at the NIA.
In his ruling Justice Otaba recalled that the application was brought under section 19 of the constitution and section 99 of the Criminal Procedure Code. He said according to the affidavit, the applicant since his arrest, has been held incommunicado and denied access to family and has not been charged or arraigned before a court of law. He has not been released conditionally or unconditionally, and the reason for his arrest was not known.
Justice Otaba held that he shall exercise his discretion judicially and judiciously by granting bail to the applicant in the following terms. He, went on, “bail is granted to the applicant in the sum of D200,000 with two Gambian sureties, with a property of the like sum. The accused person must submit his travelling documents to the principal Registrar of the high court and the sureties should swear to an affidavit of means”.
