Solo Bojang on Court Martial Media denied access to cover proceedings

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By Kebba Jeffang The media was denied access to cover the proceedings on Monday, August 24, 2015 of the court martial Colonel Solo Bojanginvolving Lt. Col. Solo Bojang, a former senior army officer of the Gambia Armed Forces (GAF), who also doubled as the then manager of Kanilai Family Farm (KFF).The court martial, which has been ongoing for the past two weeks, is taking place at the Fajara Barracks annex in Bakau. When this reporter visited the place where the court martial is taking place opposite the main barracks, he met a uniformed soldier at the entrance who asked whether he was a relative of Bojang, the accused.   The soldier also enquired whether he was from an office and when he was told by the reporter that he was a journalist, he then responded that the proceedings are not opened to the media. However, this reporter was reliably informed that Mr. Bojang is being represented in the court martial by a military officer but the charge or charges leveled against him are not yet known. Lt. Co. Bojang was acquitted by the lower court in Brikama on three counts while convicted and fined to pay D50, 000.00 on one which was settled on the spot in court. Following the delivery of the judgment, he was seen being escorted out of the courtroom by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) operatives. Since then he has been detained at the various detention centres in the country, including NIA center in Tanji and the state central prison at Mile 2 in the outskirts of the capital, Banjul.]]>