By Mustapha Jallow
Mansour Jobe, Director of Legal and Investigation at the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Monday said his office is currently waiting to receive the forensic pathologist report from the medical officer who conducted medical examination on Fakebba Colley.
Fakebba Colley reportedly died while under police custody in Sukuta on 6 August 2022.
“I have made some inquiries about the case. I confirmed that the matter was reported here, too. Our team {of investigators} consulted the office of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH), but we were made to understand that a postmortem was actually conducted,’’ he said.
This paper learned that an autopsy also known as postmortem has since been done on the late Colley, but the report is still not unveiled. The police have not yet released an update on its investigation.
Jobe added: “We made several follow-ups at EFSTH, but we later learned that the pathologist was not in town. And, I think that’s where the confusion begins. Now, we are waiting for the pathology report, in order to know whether Colley’s death was natural or if there was foul play. If the death was not natural, then we expected the police to launch a thorough investigation and try to set more light on the matter.’’
The rights commission assured the family members of the late Colley that his office will continue to make inquiries about the matter – to ensure they get the pathologist result from either EFSTH or the police. He said the NHRC is open to the family of the late Colley.
“Well, my team has been in touch with the police and EFSTH. Even recently, they {investigators} went to the hospital to see if they could meet the pathologist, but they were unsuccessful,’’ Jobe said.
Meanwhile, Jobe said the commission has since opened an investigation into the matter but at the moment, they are waiting for the pathology report. He asked the family to exercise patience while urging them to report to the commission anytime – if they are not pleased with the police investigation, for the commission to write to the police.
The family is demanding the autopsy report and they expressed fear that the police do not want the report out.
“We are yet to see or receive any copy of the autopsy report. Whenever we ask the police about the situation, they will tell us that they are also waiting for the results from the pathologist at EFSTH. We felt that we were being kept in the dark. The authorities, too, remain muted on the matter. We lodged a complaint to the national human rights commission but they later told us that they are now waiting for the police. We want the authorities to tell us the truth about the death of Fakebba,’’ said Malick Colley, a brother to the deceased.
Last Tuesday, via WhatsApp text message, Cadet ASP Binta Njie, spokesperson for the police promised to get back to our reporter on the matter, but she is yet to do so.
