By Buba Gagigo
Momodou Sabally, a prominent United Democratic Party (UDP) militant and former Presidential Affairs Minister, says he remains unfazed and is even more resolute in speaking his mind about matters of public interest without fear of any malicious attempts to silence him.
The erstwhile presidential Affairs Minister, fondly called Baba La Commando by UDP militants, made these remarks in response to a civil lawsuit filed against him by Abubakary Jawara, the CEO of GACH Global, in which the businessman alleged defamation and slander against his person and seek compensatory damage to the tune of eight million dalasis in addition to an apology from Mr. Sabally.
In a write-up posted to his Facebook page on Wednesday evening, Momodou Sabally took exception to the lawsuit and promised a vigorous defense to what he called a threat to freedom of opinion and expression.
“And then it is my view that that defamation summons is ill-conceived and malicious. It seeks to threaten and restrict a fundamental democratic, constitutional and human rights value: the right to freedom of opinion and expression, especially on matters of serious public interest.”
He went on further to say:
“I remain unfazed and even more resolute in speaking my mind about matters of public interest without fear of any malicious attempts to silence me. I am determined to robustly and vigorously defend myself at any level,”
We broke the news of a civil suit filed with the high court yesterday in which the CEO of GACH Global, Mr. Abubakary Jawara, alleged that former Presidential Affairs Minister, Momodou Sabally is responsible for his loss of D8 million in business, and is suing him (Sabally) at the High Court of the Gambia for defamation and slander.
In his statement of claim, Jawara claimed that Momodou Sabally had, at different times on or about the 11th day of January 2021, falsely and maliciously published several defamatory statements about him on his Facebook account which he (Jawara) said enjoys very high traffic owing to the status of Sabally as a prominent political figure in a Gambian opposition party, the United Democratic Party (UDP) and because of his previous position.
The writ of summons for the civil suit has a court date of November 14th, 2022, for first court appearances.