A five-member panel of judges, chaired by the Chief Justice of The Gambia, Mr Abdul Kareem Savage, yesterday dismissed the criminal case appeal filed by Hamat Bah against the state.

Lawyer Ousainou Darboe, counsel for the applicant, informed the Supreme Court’s five-member panel of judges that acting on the instruction from the 2nd applicant, Hamat Bah, he filed a notice of abandoning the appeal. He said that however he did not have any instruction from the 1st appellant, Omar Jallow, other than the instruction to file an appeal, which he did. He added that he had tried to contact the appellant but could not reach him.

The Supreme Court panel therefore dismissed the 2nd applicant’s appeal case, adjourning the appeal case of Omar Jallow to 11th February 2008.

It would be recalled that the criminal appeal of Hamat Bah and Omar Jallow is in connection with their arrest and their subsequent trial in 2006 by the authorities. However the matter was later dropped by the state following mediation by the then Africa Union Chairman, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. The applicants afterwards filed a suit at the Court of Appeal for their trial to continue. The state objected to the appeal and the objection was upheld by the Court of Appeal. This prompted the applicants to file their appeal against the Court of Appeal with the Supreme Court.

In another development the election petitions filed by Amadou Sanneh of UDP against Momodou SM Jallow of APRC in connection with the Upper Fulladu seat; Dullo Bah of NRP against Sainey Mbye of APRC over the Upper Saloum seat and Kebba Singhateh of UDP against Abdoulie Suku Singhateh of APRC over the Lower Badibou seat, were all struck out yesterday by the five-member panel of judges. The panel’s decision to strike out the petitions emanated from the petitioner’s instruction of their counsel, Lawyer Ousainou Darboe, to inform the Supreme Court panel that they (the petitioners) had decided to file a notice of withdrawal- hence the counsel’s application for the court to strike out the election petitions.