Dec. 6 GAMBIA: Death Sentence for Malick Njok's Killer Exactly 1 year after the death in violent circumstances of Malick Njok, the High court has pronounced the death sentence on his killer Batch Faye. Justice M A Paul of the High Court on Friday sentenced Batch to death for stabbing Malick Njok while they were at Waw nightclub on December 6, 2003, resulting in the latter's death. Mr. Faye was charged for murder contrary to Section 187 of the Criminal Code of The Gambia. In delivering his three-hour judgment in a courtroom packed with Batch Faye's emotive relatives and sympathisers Justice Paul said that the act by the accused is unlawful and that the evidence had clearly exposed him as a murderer who cannot be believed when he said he had followed the deceased outside the nightclub only expecting to caution him (Njok). Justice Paul also stated that in Batch Faye's evidence in chief, he said he struck his victim once with a knife but does not know which part of Njok's body had received the knife blow. The judge said it was a fundamental factor to the outcome of the case that Batch's statement to the police and his evidence in chief were at variance. "One cannot rule out that the accused had died from multiple wounds. He died from massive bleeding as stated by PW 9 in his testimony" the judge added. Justice Paul said the testimony of DW 1 and the accused are unreliable and they did not alter the fundamental fact that Malick Njok's death was caused by Batch Faye's knife blow. "A man who does not want to fight will not act the way the accused did. Under the circumstances a man armed with a lethal weapon is ready for combat" he opined. "I do not accept the Njok hitting the accused with a coca-cola bottle. A coca-cola bottle is a heavy bottle and hitting a head with it as claimed by the accused can scatter one's head. The same thing goes for a beer bottle. But I will once again say that there is no evidence that the life of the accused was in danger" he added. In his plea of mitigation, Batch Faye's counsel C E Mene nonetheless pleaded to Justice Paul to temper justice with mercy. "My Lord, the accused is a breadwinner with 5 children," he said, prompting a stiff response from Justice Paul that "the court is left with no option but to sentence Batch Faye to death". As soon as Justice Paul pronounced the last words, relatives, friends and sympathisers of the convicted man flared up wailing. The object of their sympathy was soon whisked off to a waiting prison vehicle bound for Mile Two Prisons, where he was kept for a year as the case proceeded. When this reporter spoke to C E Mene, he said, "naturally I feel bad but we have the right to appeal and we will take advantage of it". (source: The Independent)
