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Melville Claims Ag Tries To Engineer His Rape Charges

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By Momodou Justice Darboe

For the first time since he was reportedly slammed with rape charges last week, former top Foreign Affairs official Melville Roberts has spoken out, accusing Justice Minister Ba Tambadou of trying to engineer the charges against him.

Roberts was last week reportedly charged with rape after several women alleged that he sexually abused them.
He denied any wrong doing.
He was consequently granted bail in the sum of D1M, according to government Spokesperson.

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Yesterday, Melville spoke to The Standard from his so far unknown location: “The police report into the allegations had exonerated me and that’s the absolute truth. Find out as journalists and see. So why will the justice ministry go against the report of an investigation that completely exonerated me? Is that how true Muslims behave? I am saddened and that’s why as a nation, we are the way we are”.
According to Melville, he was never even charged, let alone granted bail, despite official sources stating otherwise.

He also said rumours claiming his immunity was revoked are false.
Roberts also commented on his own Facebook page, saying: “A premature press release was sent out by the Minister of Justice instructing the police to open an investigation on social media allegations that were baseless and unsubstantiated.

Usually, it’s for a complainant to go and make a complaint at the police and the police to open an investigation but because its Melville, this was sidelined for reasons I may never know.”

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Mr. Roberts further claimed that the six months of investigations that followed the ministry’s alleged instruction was accompanied by social media campaign of character assassination, innuendoes and insinuations of all sorts and on all platforms.
“During this period, I was vilified on every social media platform at their disposal and my image was carried on national newspapers and television stations. The minions further claimed that I had sought asylum in the UK and they had credible evidence to prove that,” he lamented.

He further commented: “They said I got a job by recording and blackmailing the President. They said I was wanted by the NIA and that banks were in search of me for defrauding them. They went further to say that I’d be arrested immediately upon my return. This was what was sold to gullible Gambians to arouse their sympathy. Absolutely blatant lies.”He described Ba’s alleged interference with his case as mysterious and nerve-wrecking.

“The police conducted seven months of rigorous investigations and submitted a report to say that I have been exonerated but one man, in the person of the justice minister, as alleged, is saying I must be charged because he has the power to do that disregarding the findings of a team of investigators,” he concluded.
The Standard tried repeatedly to get AG Tambadou for comments but he could not be reached.

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