Scattered Janneh’s Treason Trial Adjourned

By Mamamadou Dem The single count charge of treason preferred against Dr. Amadou Scattred Janneh, a onetime Information, Communication and Infrastructure Minister in the APRC government, was yesterday, 20 April, adjourned by the lower court in Banjul presided over by Magistrate Samsideen Conteh.It was in November 2014, that the court  granted  a bench warrant for Dr. Janneh to be brought before the court for a treason charge. The particulars of offence states that Dr. Janneh on or about the month of May 2011 at Kairaba Avenue and diverse places in the Republic of The Gambia distributed T-Shirts bearing ‘Coalition for Change the Gambia, end to dictatorship now’ with intent to usurp the executive powers of the state and thereby committed an offence. However, on the day of mention, the police prosecutor, Alieu Faye, told the court that the accused person is out of the jurisdiction. “We are applying for a bench warrant so that the accused person can be brought back to the country through the Interpol,” he submitted. The trial magistrate in his ruling, granted the application of the prosecution for the accused person to be brought and to answer to the treason charge against him. Dr Janneh, who holds dual Gambian and American Citizenship, was earlier convicted and sentenced on a similar offence to life imprisonment by Justice Emmanuel Nkea of the Special Criminal Division of the High Court in Banjul. Janneh was found guilty on all the four counts he was charged with and was convicted and accordingly sentenced to serve life imprisonment on counts one and two, conspiracy to commit a felony and treason. He and his three co-accused persons, namely, Modou Keita, Ebrima Jallow and Michael Ucheh Thomas, were all sentenced to three years imprisonment on counts three and four. This high court judgement brought to an end a seven-month long trial, which started on July 18th 2011. However, Dr. Janneh did not complete his sentence as he was later released on presidential pardon after the intervention of Rev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader from the United States.]]>