By Mustapha Jallow
Since their return from Equatorial Guinea on Sunday 21st January 2018, Brigadier General Ansumana Tamba and Brigadier General Umpa Mendy, have been put under detention without court appearance or access to a Lawyer.
When contacted to shed light on the two, Military spokesperson Major Lamin K. Sanyang, yesterday told Foroyaa that the two are still held as a result of incomplete investigations in their affairs.
‘‘Only when our investigation is completed, that the issue of the two can be determined on whether charges should or should not be preferred against them,’’ he explained.
However, on the condition the detainees, PRO Sanyang said that the duo have been granted family access and that they are in good health.
According to the Constitution of the Gambia, such detention contravenes Section 19 which stipulates that a detainee should be informed of the reason(s) of his/her detention and given access to a lawyer within three hours; and that if such detainee is not released within 72 hours, he/she should be brought before a court of Law.
It could be recalled that Brig. Gens. Mendy and Tamba fled with the former President to Equatorial only to return to the country after one year of being in that Central African country. The two landed at the Banjul International Airport together with Modou Lamin Jarju, a former waiter to the former president, and passed undetected by the Intelligence and Immigration officers. They were later picked up at their respectively homes within the West Coast Region.
