President Jammeh In Serious Panic... His Lawyer Has Dumped Him And Escaped

The Gambia's embattled outgoing president, Yahya Jammeh has suffered another blow in his quest to remain in power as his lawyer has fled the country.

 
The lawyer, Edu Gomez, fled to neighbouring Senegal. He fled after penning the president a letter to step down from office in the interest of peace.

Mr. Gomez had represented Jammeh in his failed bid to have the country’s Supreme Court overturn the victory of President-elect Adama Barrow, and stop his inauguration as President.

In his letter, according to PT, Gomez said he was made to work under “tremendous pressure and coercion” as the lawyer of the now largely isolated leader and his party. 

“On Tuesday 17th January 2017, my son and I took a crucial decision to seek sanctuary in the sister Republic of Senegal. This was found necessary due to the mounting fear and rapidly increasing tension at every passing moment,” he wrote.

“The general perception is that after midnight on 18th January 2017, the mandate of President Yahya Jammeh would expire and President-elect Mr. Adama Barrow would be sworn-in as president, in line with the dictates of our constitution. Any attempt to interrupt this ceremony, it is clearly understood, opens the Gambia to attack from ECOWAS forces.

“As a legal practitioner representing President Jammeh and the APRC the party in the ongoing petition filed on his behalf at the Supreme Court of the Gambia, I have to admit that I was working under tremendous pressure and coercion. All the lawyers with established practices in the Gambia refused to be associated with the said petition.”

He said he and his family fled to Senegal after they successfully eluded the 24 hour military surveillance they were placed on.

He advised Mr. Jammeh to step down so as to avoid a gruesome end to his presidency and in the interest of peace and the safety of the Gambian people.