By Abdoulie John
The Legal Adviser of the Gambia’s spy agency was on Monday evening granted bail after he had been detained for 72 hours at Kairaba Police Station. The arrest and subsequent detention of Bubacarr A.M.O Badjie sparked public uproar, with activists calling for his immediate and unconditional release.
One of the legal luminaries who advocated for Badjie’s release and represents him is Lawyer Lamin J. Darbo. Lawyer Darbo confirmed that Mr. Badjie was bailed in the sum of D50,000 with two Gambian sureties.
Bubacarr A.M.O Badjie, a lawyer of the National Intelligence Agency (now State Intelligence Service), was detained last Friday after the content of his petition to President Adama Barrow had leaked to the press. In the said petition, Badjie unveiled the disturbing reality that 60 percent of the spy agency staff are “functionally illiterate”. He further decried alarming issues including the slow pace of implementation of reforms announced by the new regime.
Lawyer Lamin J. Darboe confirmed that his client, who has been interdicted, is now deployed to SIS Investigative Office.
Meanwhile, Madi Jobarteh, a renowned civil society activist, described Lawyer Badjie’s case as a “serious abuse of office” and called on the Gambian leader to investigate the spy agency. “Badjie acted within his constitutional rights to write this petition,” he pointed out, urging President Adama Barrow to take leadership on this matter to make sure that “the NIA is clean and law abiding.”
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Objective whistle blowing should be nurtured as a tradition and encouraged at all echelons of public service to protect collective rights and interests.