By Nelson Manneh
Foroyaa has been reliably informed that more than a dozen people who were arrested by Police on Saturday in the aftermath of the 24th July Serrekunda Market demonstration have been released on bail.
The mass demonstration culminated in the burning of the Bakoteh Police Station and the resident of Commissioner Gorgi Mboob of the Anti-Crime Unit.
Those people arrested on Saturday at the Serrekunda Market were suspected of partaking in the setting ablaze of Bakoteh Police Station and the residence of Commissioner Gorgi Mboob.
The demonstration held on 24 July 2019 was staged by vendors of the Serrekunda Market and some youths who called on the Police to stop brutalizing people especially those under their custody. For the protesters, the death of their colleague vendor, Ousman Darboe, a Sierra Leonean was a consequent of torture meted out to him by the Police while he was under the custody of the Anti-Crime Unit.
A source, who was at the Police headquarters in Banjul at the time of their release of the arrestees, said the police have indicated that all those who were arrested should report to the Tallinding Police Station.
Dodou Njie, the President of the Serrekunda Market Association, has confirmed to this medium that all the vendors who were arrested from the market were granted bail by the police.
“I was informed that all of them were charged, but there was no charge sheet given to them. Some of us were even told to report with the arrestees at the Tallinding Police which we did,” he said.
Ali Cham popularly known as Killa Ace, was also among those arrested on Saturday, 17th July and he was the first person granted bail by the Gambia Police Force. According to our source, his surety was asked to enter into a bail bond of D50, 000.
