By Kemeseng Sanneh (Kexx)
Justice Zainab Jawara-Alami of the Banjul High Court has cautioned the Inspector General of Police on how to conduct arrest to avoid abusing the rights of people.
She provided the constitutional basis for arresting people.
“There is absolutely no power to arrest and detain a person merely to make enquiries about him or her,” Justice Zainab said.
She added: “The Constitution does not permit an arrest for the purposes of interrogation or investigation in the hope of getting enough information to ground a charge. Any arrest must be on the basis of reasonable suspicion.”
The Judge delivered judgement in the case brought against the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General in which Aisha sought court order to get back her travel documents, two iPhone mobiles (13 Pro Max and 12 Pro Max) and her two Mercedes Benz. She also asked the court to declare that her detention by the police was unlawful and a violation of her constitutional right.
Aisha Fatty’s case was opposed by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Attorney General. Aisha filed a reply and also a rejoinder to the IGP and Attorney General.
The case of the police is that they invited Aisha Fatty in April 2022 for questioning concerning her alleged involvement in a money laundering investigation, which was transnational (cross-border). The police alleged that Aisha Fatty is part of 15 transnational criminal syndicates and they got an intelligence report. After assessing the intelligence report, the police said they found out that there was merit.
The police alleged that Aisha owned a fleet of expensive and luxurious vehicles, and had over Twenty Million Dalasi (D20,000,000) in her bank account. The police further alleged that the two vehicles involved in the case cost Two Hundred and Forty-Six Thousand Euros (240,000). They said the black Mercedes Benz GLE 635 Brabus manufactured in 2021 in Germany and White Mercedes Benz GLE 53 manufactured in 2021 in USA are costing Ninety Thousand Dollars (90,000). The police believed that the vehicles were stolen and purchased from proceeds of crime generated through a transnational organised crime business scheme with foreign nationals. The police said Aisha could not produce documents to show that she purchased the vehicles or could not explain the means she acquired them.
For Aisha, she stated that she was invited for questioning by the police on the 12th of April 2022 regarding the number plates of the vehicle and when she got there, the police arrested her and took her phones from her. She was arrested together with Abdoulie Bass and granted bail on the same day for over one million Dalasi.
On the following day, 13th of April, she went back to the police together with Abdoulie Bass. This time around they were detained for 24 hours for refusing to grant the police access to their phones. On the 15th of April, they were granted bail for 2.5 Million Dalasi and later the amount was increased to 10 Million Dalasi by the Serious Crimes Unit of the Gambia Police Force. She reported on the 9th of June 2022 and was detained again for 24 hours. She was further detained from the 11th to 13th April 2022 for refusing to hand over the extra keys of the vehicles. Aisha said whenever she reports to the police, she will either be detained or confronted with allegations of extortion through phones or other allegations.
The court found the conduct of the police as abusive. The Judge reminded the police that the application to search Aisha’s phones and to freeze accounts in February 2023 was refused by the high court.
The Judge held that the police began the investigation in April 2022 and until 2023 the investigation was not concluded.
“Such an attitude, the courts must of necessity, wholly condemn,” Justice Zainab said.
She held that the detention of Aisha was unlawful in the absence of any formal charge. She said a person arrested by the police should be informed within 3 hours of the reason for the arrest. She added that within 72 hours, he or she must be arraigned before a court or released.
The court held that the police took Aisha’s phones for months in the name of investigating her, which was very long. She further held that the issue of ownership of the vehicles was a civil matter, which the police had a hand in and should not help to facilitate that for Abdoulie Thiam. The Judge pointed out that the matter of the ownership of the vehicles was already in court. The Judge held that the detention of Aisha’s properties was unlawful. She commanded the IGP to release the vehicles, mobile phones and travel documents of Aisha Fatty.
