Abdoulie Fatty, lawyer for the detained UDP campaign manager Momodou Sabally, has said he was denied access to his client at the PIU headquarters Thursday.
The former secretary general was arrested last week and has since been detained without charge.
The High Court has extended his detention until the first week of the New Year, a decision widely condemned as a violation of his rights.
A group of his supporters gathered at the PIU base earlier in the week demanding his immediate release but were teargassed and dispersed.
Yesterday, the counsel for Sabally announced that the police refused to allow him to see his client, asking him to seek clearance from Banjul.
Lawyer Fatty tweeted: “I’ve been at the PIU entrance for 45mins. I explained I came to see my client to brief him about the ongoing court process. PIU insist I must get clearance from Banjul. Banjul’s passing the buck to the PIU. Essentially, I’m deprived from consulting with my client. I’m denied access.
Mind you, I’m carrying a file containing court documents which I showed the PIU and that I needed to sit with my client and have a legal briefing. So that I can advise my client and take instructions from him. A fundamental right to free and fair hearing and access to justice.”
