By Fatou Sillah
The Minister of Interior, Abdoulie Sanyang, has confirmed that all police officers implicated in the death of Omar Badjie have been suspended as authorities launch an independent investigation into the case.
Speaking during a visit to the Badjie family in Mandinaring on Sunday, Minister Sanyang said members of the patrol team involved in the incident are currently in Banjul, where they are being questioned.
“I don’t know the numbers but those who were on the patrol team are all suspended. And they are currently with us in Banjul and we are taking interviews,” he stated.
Minister Sanyang assured the family that the investigation would be carried out with full transparency and independence. He revealed that a magistrate will be appointed to oversee court hearings, which will be open to the public.
“A magistrate will be appointed to conduct court hearings on the case allowing public access The police will not carry out the investigation, we want it to be independent so that everyone will know what happened,” he said.
He further noted that the family would be directly represented in the postmortem process, with a representative present to observe proceedings and hear from medical professionals.
“Every aspect of the investigation will be conducted independently and the family will have a representative to observe what occurred and hear directly from medical professionals,” he emphasized.
According to the minister, senior government officials, including the Minister of Defense, the Minister for the Presidency, the National Security Adviser, the Director of the State Intelligence Services, and the Inspector General of Police, have already been briefed.
He added that he had spoken with President Adama Barrow more than 20 times about the incident, noting the president’s deep concern.
“I spoke to the president yesterday and he is saddened by this and he doesn’t even know what to do because this is not supposed to happen,” He Said.
Minister Sanyang stressed that no one is above the law, not even the president. “We are here to show our sympathy with the Badjie Kunda family. Nobody is above the law even the president, If you do something that is against the law what the law says is what will happened,” He Said.
He confirmed that a coroner’s inquest will be established to determine the circumstances surrounding Badjie’s death, adding that he will formally request its initiation from the Ministry of Justice on Monday.
“This investigation will not be done by the police, a coroner’s inquest will be established,” he concluded.