Imam Baba Leigh in the United States Published on:Thursday, June 13, 2013 Imam Baba Leigh illegally detained for over five months ASN has learnt that Imam Baba Leigh, one of the most outspoken religious leaders in the Gambia, who was arrested and held incommunicado for over five months by the brutal regime of the country’s iron fist ruler, dictator Yahya Jammeh, is currently in the United States. Although it is not clear if Imam Leigh has come for a medical check-up or to stay, ASN further learnt that he was persuaded by his immediate family and close friends to leave the country. “Imam agrees to come over for a while but he refused all persuasions to stay for good,” a close family relative told ASN. Imam Leigh was arrested on December 3, 2012 and held incommunicado for over five months without access to lawyers or family members. ASN prefer not to reveal Imam Leigh’s whereabouts. The regime of Dictator Yahya Jammeh has always denied holding him prompting activists and the international community to believe that he might have been secretly murdered and dumped in an undisclosed location like other victims of the tyranny. The U.S. government, the U.K. government, and the European Union have all issued statements and used other diplomatic means to exert pressure on the regime in Gambia to release the Imam. (There has been conspicuous silence from Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) and the African Union.) Imam Leigh was eventually released from detention in May and forced to appear on national television to thank Gambia’s autocrat Yahya Jammeh. A week later, Imam Leigh told journalists that his faith and dedication to the truth shall remain unshakable by the grace of God; strengthening the widely belief that he was forced to appear on national television.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 06:11:01 +0000
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