By Alagie Manneh
The former leader of the All Peoples Party, Dr Ebrahim Jagne has expressed mixed feelings on the arrest and detention of UDP campaign manager Momodou Sabally.
Commenting on the saga on Tuesday, Dr Jagne did not condone his arrest, but he also said that Mr Sabally shouldn’t have said what was said in the video.
“I’m saying that if that video is really true, he shouldn’t have said that,” the former head of Lamin Health Centre told The Standard. “And if he had said that, then they should question him, rather than detain him. Everyone has a right to say what they feel. Like for example, I would say anything, but I wouldn’t go as far as saying that this government is going to be removed by force. That’s my personal opinion, even though I stand for human rights. If the government or the law thinks what Sabally said has violated the law, he should be questioned. It’s a very sensitive area when you talk about taking power by force. I don’t think anyone should be saying that.”
Dr Jagne said what the police should have done, instead, was to question and let him walk away while they investigate the matter.
“If they later find anything, they can take him to court. But [holding him] all this while I think that’s not right. I think they should release him,” he said.
In a democracy, Mr Jagne went on, no one should threaten the use of force or resort to subversive actions to change a government.
On the alleged coup Dr Jagne said: “Coup d’état is not good for anything. Democratic process is the solution for the way forward. From all indications, it looks like there was an attempted coup. The government arrested some people and I think they will be taken to court.”
