By Omar Sabally
The Centre for Legal Support (CLS), a network of public interest lawyers’ civil society organization established in 2018 as a non-government legal entity to provide pro bono {gratis or without charge} legal services to the public, last Saturday offered free legal assistance to inmates at the State Central Prison-Mile 2, and Old Jeshwang Wing.
Speaking at Mile 2 Central Prison, Lawyer Sheriff Kumba Jobe, Chairman of Centre for Legal Support (CLS) explained that, they understood and felt the plights and difficulties inmates are facing; and with the advent of the new political dispensation, they are committed to contribute their quota in responding to their legal needs.
The legal practitioner said that’s what has motivated them, as lawyers, to come together and add value to the lives and rights of every Gambian, particularly the underserved and people with limited means such as women, children and youth.
Lawyer Jobe submitted that their present at Mile 2 was a clear manifestation that the Gambia has changed for better, reasoning that because few years back, this was not possible at all, noting that “thus, as citizens we must demand greater respect for our fundamental human rights and freedom, and unless we insist on our rights and livelihood, our democratic gains would be meaningless”.
It’s been said that CLS provides pro bono legal assistance and representation to the underserved and persons with limited means charged with criminal offences, victims of human rights violations in cases before the national courts; initiates and undertakes public interest litigation on human rights and constitutional matters before the High Court and Supreme Court of The Gambia; and also engage in capacity building workshops and community awareness creation with the prime objectives to encourage citizens’ participation in the democratization process, public debates on national issues, freedom of expression and divergence of opinion, while also pushing the human rights and good governance agenda forward.
Superintendent Modou Lamin Ceesay, in deputizing for the Director General of Gambia Prisons Service, thanked CLS for the initiative in engaging them in the Transitional Justice process of the country.
He stressed that their role in the transformation processes of the country is critical as there cannot be any meaningful transitional justice without the involvement of the prison, which is a vital player in the legal system.
