5. The Plaintiff further states that because he is not a Gambian
citizen, most of the members of the Gambian Bar were not happy
with his appointment.
6. That sometime in 2013 some members of the Gambia Bar
Association including the then President Ms. Ubna Farage and the
Minister of Justice Ms. Amie Joof went to the then President Alhaji
Yahaya Jammeh and made frivolous allegation of corruption
against the Plaintiff and without any investigation, the Plaintiff
was removed from office.
Comparative information available to the Court gleaned from the pleadings of the
parties clearly established that the Plaintiff was appointed by the Defendant as a
judge, was assigned a role as the acting Chief Justice at a point in time and was
eventually appointed as the Chief Justice. Throughout these stages of the Plaintiff’s
engagement with the Defendant, the Defendant was aware of the nationality of
the Plaintiff and yet entrusted into his hands the highest office of the third arm of
governance in the Defendant state.
The allegations of human rights violation in this suit is against the Defendant and
not the Gambian Bar Association as a body. The Court notes that the fact that the
decision to remove from office and to prosecute him emanated from the petition
by the Gambian Bar Association – does not prove the allegation of discrimination
by the Gambian Bar Association. The mere allegation of discrimination without
more is itself sufficient to prove an issue of discrimination against the Defendant.
What was important was the fact that the Plaintiff’s guilt or innocence was
determined by established legal framework in accordance with the evidence
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