Jammeh’s Lawyer Flees, Advises Him To Step Down | Adama
Barrow To Be Inaugurated In Senegal
Edu Gomez, the legal representative of Gambian dictator,
Yahya Jammeh, has fled the country to neighbouring Senegal after writing the
president a letter to step down from office in the interest of peace.
In a letter dated January 17, Gomez, who represented Mr.
Jammeh and his party, the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and
Construction, APRC, in their failed attempt to reclaim the legal governance of the
country, said he was made to work under “tremendous pressure and coercion”.
He wrote: “On
Tuesday 17th January 2017, my son and I took a crucial decision to seek
sanctuary in the sister Republic of Senegal. This was found necessary due to
the mounting fear and rapidly increasing tension at every passing moment.”
“The general
perception is that after midnight on 18th January 2017, the mandate of
President Yahya Jammeh would expire and President-elect Mr. Adama Barrow would
be sworn-in as president, in line with the dictates of our constitution. Any
attempt to interrupt this ceremony, it is clearly understood, opens the Gambia
to attack from ECOWAS forces.
“As a legal
practitioner representing President Jammeh and the APRC the party in the ongoing
petition filed on his behalf at the Supreme Court of the Gambia, I have to
admit that I was working under tremendous pressure and coercion. All the
lawyers with established practices in the Gambia refused to be associated with
the said petition. As a retainer for the ruling APRC party, I could not refuse
the brief on professional grounds, despite my apprehension.”
He advised Mr. Jammeh to step down so as to avoid a gruesome
end to his presidency and in the interest of peace and the safety of the Gambian
people.
He added: “Having
fortunately eluded the 24 hour military security around me and my family, I
managed to arrive in Senegal where I now gained safety, respite and mental
stability. In my present situation, I humbly and respectfully advise President
Jammeh as the champion of peace he has been known to be to peacefully step
aside in the interest of peace and safety of the Gambian people.
“Everything except
God’s kingdom comes to an end. I advocate for a peaceful end, rather than a
violent and gruesome end. Please, in the name of the most merciful God, do not
allow your legacy to be described as one where ‘the pen of sword dipped in
innocent blood writes its history on the rough pages of tyranny.
Meanwhile, Adama Barrow, the man who won the Gambia’s
disputed election, will be sworn in as president at the country’s embassy in
neighbouring Senegal.
The message, posted on Adama Barrow’s social media accounts,
invited the general public to attend the ceremony.
This is even as last-ditch efforts by regional leaders to
convince Yahya Jammeh to step down as president failed last night.
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