Sheriff
Marie Tambadou, co-prosecutor in the case of the State vs. Yankuba Badjie &
others, has denied telling Mrs Ndura Badjie that the state has no case against
her husband, Yankuba Badjie.
Yankuba
Badjie, former director general of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), is
standing trial with eight other former senior personnel of the agency.
They
are accused of conspiracy to commit felony, assault causing serious bodily
harm, murder and making false documents among others during the regime of
former President Yahya Jammeh.
Lawyer
Tambadou, who was secretly recorded in a private meeting he had with the wife
of the accused former NIA boss Yankuba Badjie on 5 July 2017 in his office,
said he has “decided to withdraw his representation as a co-prosecutor in the
case in order to maintain the integrity and focus of the prosecution”.
“I
take full responsibility for anything said in the meeting which was not
according to my instructions, knowing fully well that I did not say anything
illegal or unethical,” Lawyer Tambadou stated.
The
following is the full statement of lawyer Tambadou out to set the record
straight:
On
the 26th May 2017, I was appointed as co-prosecutor in the case of the State
VS. Yankuba Badjie & others in Criminal Case No. HC/068/17CR/012/AO).
On
the 20th June 2017, a scheduled meeting between all the counsel for the accused
persons and the prosecuting team could not take place because Messrs C.E. Mene
and E.E. Chime who represent the 1st accused, Yankuba Badjie, were due to
travel to Nigeria on that day. I was then assigned the duty of discussing the
terms of a plea bargain with all the accused persons through their respective
counsel. Before leaving for Nigeria, Mr Chime told me that the 1st accused
wanted me to meet his wife, Mrs Ndura Badjie.
After
consultations, a colleague in the prosecuting team and myself were assigned the
task of meeting the wife of the 1st accused in order to relay the terms of the
plea bargain to him. Subsequently, a meeting was scheduled for the 5th July
2017, to be attended by his wife, my colleague and myself.
On
the day of the meeting, when the wife was announced by my secretary, I called my colleague to inform the said colleague that Mrs Badjie had arrived, and at the
suggestion of my colleague, I went ahead and held the meeting alone with her in good
faith, because my colleague had other commitments and could not join us. I
relayed the outcome of the meeting immediately on its conclusion. I tried in the best way I could, to relay the
terms of a plea bargain to Mrs Badjie.
I
did make other statements in the said meeting for which I take full
responsibility. I was not instructed to say them and they were simply my
opinion. I made the statement that if it
was up to the Attorney General, this matter would not have gone to court. This
was not based on anything that the Attorney General discussed with me or told
me. It was my own opinion based on the press briefing he made in March 2017,
when he said that the ministry of justice was not consulted and was unprepared
for the case of the NIA 9 to be presented in court at the time.
I
never said to Mrs Badjie in our meeting that the State had no case against her
husband or that the evidence against her husband is weak. On the contrary, I
believe in the strength of the case otherwise I would not have accepted the
brief.
I
take full responsibility for anything said in the meeting which was not
according to my instructions, knowing fully well that I did not say anything
illegal or unethical. I regret that our
meeting which was supposed to be private was secretly recorded by Mrs Badjie
without my consent or knowledge and disseminated in the public domain. I condemn
it as totally wrong.
On
the 6th July, I received a call around 13:00 hours from Mr Chime informing me
of his and Mr Mene’s return. I reported this fact, and was instructed to meet
them, which I did in the same afternoon. In our meeting, I informed both of them of my meeting with Mrs Badjie on
the previous day.
I
have decided to withdraw my representation as a co-prosecutor in the case in
order to maintain the integrity and focus of the prosecution, with the
confidence that the prosecuting team, even without me, is a formidable one and
ably led.
I
have practised law in The Gambia for over twenty-five years, and tried,
throughout that time to maintain the decorum and ethics of the profession, and
the good name of my family. I will not demean myself, my profession, my
colleagues or my family. I Thank you.
Signed:
Sheriff
Marie Tambadou
