Gambia: The nightmare of Femi Peters' son

On 30 March, Olufemi Peters Jr rang his father, Femi Peters, from the UK where he is studying. It was just two days before his father's trial at a magistrate’s court outside the Gambian capital Banjul. Femi Peters, 64-year-old campaign manager for the United Democratic Party (UDP), had been arrested for holding an illegal political rally.

by Sheriff Bojang Jr

"He was confident on the phone that he would win the case, and so was I, because we knew that the state didn't have a genuine case against him".

But in the late hours of 1 April, Femi Peters was convicted and sentenced to a one-year jail term 'for holding a public rally and using a loudspeaker.'

The verdict bewildered his son: "The judgment has traumatised my whole family. I have always looked up to the man who gave me all his names and life and the last place I ever thought he would be is jail."

Outspoken
Opponents of  Gambian president Yahya Jammeh have been the victim of arbitrary arrests, torture and incarceration ever since Jammeh came to power in a military coup in July 1994. Even though he is now an elected head of state, opposition politicians still have a hard time under his rule. 

This was also the experience of Femi Peters, whose UDP is a very popular opposition party in Gambia. Since 1996, it has been contesting elections to 'bring back democracy, human rights and the rule of law to the Gambia'. Femi Peters was an outspoken critic of the policies and programmes of the government.

To his son Olufemi, his father's jail sentence was 'a political orchestration from the outset. If his political affiliation had been somewhat different, he wouldn't be languishing in jail right now. Let's face it... who else would go to jail for merely organising a legitimate political rally and using a loudspeaker to address a crowd?'

Travesty of justice
Human rights groups and the international community have criticised the Gambian government and the judiciary for the way it handled Femi Peters' case.

Ousainou Darboe, UDP leader and lawyer for Femi Peters, has called the judgment 'a travesty of justice'.

Since Femi Peters was sent to jail, concerns have been raised about his health and the bad prison conditions. Medical reports confirm that he is a diabetic and this deeply troubles his son:

"My dad's poor health is giving me nightmares. He is a diabetic and he had malaria the last time my family visited him in prison. I know he won't have the best medical care in there. I am very worried because in a nutshell, these guys are trying to kill my dad!"

Tough
Despite the imprisonment and the health fears, Olufemi is convinced that his father will not give in to pressure to change his position on issues of democracy and human rights:

'My dad is made of tougher stuff than that. He will not quit. That is not the man who sired me. He is very determined to see a free and democratic Gambia where we can all contribute, irrespective of our political affiliation and not get jailed, tortured or killed for it. And he will fight for that to the very end.'

Femi Peters' family and lawyer have appealed against his sentence, though there is no hope among UDP party members that the appeal will make any difference.