By Tabora Bojang
Lawmakers have agreed to a sentence of five years in prison as the penalty for assault on a police officer.
The Assembly is considering the Criminal Offences Bill 2022 which seeks to “revise and consolidate” the law relating to criminal offences and for other connected matters.
Under the current criminal law, perpetrating a crime of assault against a police officer attracts a prison sentence of two years.
The government wanted to increase this sentence under the new law to state that a person who assaults, resists or willfully obstructs a police officer in the execution of his or her duty commits a misdemeanour and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for five years.
After reading these clauses for lawmakers to give their blessing, Speaker Fabakary Tombong Jatta said perpetrating a crime against police officers is a serious crime that should not be encouraged in The Gambia.
Similarly, the lawmakers also agreed to pass the clause aiming to criminalise assault of a person executing a lawful duty and assault of a law enforcement agent with both offences attracting a prison sentence of 5 years respectively.
However, Jeshwang lawmaker Sheriff Sarr commented: “How about security officers assaulting civilians, are they going to be punished with a similar penalty?”
One of his fellow members explained to him that a police officer who assaulted a civilian could be charged with common assault which attracts an imprisonment of two years.
But Sarr questioned the differences in the penalties for the perpetration of the same act – assault.
In his reply, Justice Minister Dawda Jallow explained that a certain assault perpetrated by a law enforcement agent can amount to torture. “If the police officer is assaulting in duty it is different because that could be torture. If he is assaulting as a normal person it is also a different case so it depends on the nature of the crime.”
Meanwhile, lawmakers also agreed to extend the penalty for persons carrying people in unsafe boats. Previously, the bill treated conveying a person by water for hire in unsafe or overloaded vessels as a misdemeanour. But following a recommendation by Justice Minister Jallow the lawmakers agreed to change it to a felonious crime.
