Family members of the detained wife of notorious Senegalese fugitive Boy Djinne, has called on the Gambian authorities to help secure the release of their love one.
Jabou Cham spent over a year in detention without trial.
According to a statement from the family shared with The Standard, Jabou, a 26-year-old Gambian got married to Baye Modou Fall alias ‘Boy Djinne’ when he was in The Gambia after avoiding arrest in Senegal.
The family claimed that the couple was on their way to Guinea in July 2016 when they were arrested at the Guinea-Senegal border. “While we understand that Boy Djinne may be under criminal prosecution, but his innocent wife Jabou Cham was arrested along with him and she is still being detained at Camp Penal Prison in Dakar without any charges since 5 July, 2016,” a family source said.
Another relative added: “I went to visit her in August as a brother and friend and she confirmed to me that it has been a year now and not a single Gambian authority came to visit her or talk about her case; not even from Gambian Embassy in Dakar. Some Judges and Lawyers in Dakar keep asking Jabou’s mother and family for millions of CFA to help her to be free but the family cannot afford that and don’t even trust them. And why was he detained in the first place?”
The family of Jabou said they are calling on President Adama Barrow, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawyer Ousainou Darbou and Justice Minister Ba Tambadou to intervene to secure the release of Jabou Cham.
Boy Djinne is a notorious criminal wanted in Senegal for alleged crimes who fled into Banjul and was allegedly given sanctuary by former President Jammeh who wanted to use him as a bargaining chip to secure the repatriation of Gambians he called dissidents based in Dakar.
A legal professional contacted about the matter said unless there is proof that the wife of Boy Djinne committed a crime, she should not have been arrested or detained just because her husband committed a crime. “I think the family is right; the Gambian authorities should take the responsibility and secure her release or charges if at all she committed a crime. It is not her fault that she married someone who is accused of being a criminal. She would not have known about him before the marriage,” he told The Standard.
