By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife with reporting from The Gambia

Fiona and David Fulton (right) with their adopted daughter and their other children.
Fiona and David Fulton (right) with their adopted daughter and their other children.

BANJUL, THE GAMBIA (BosNewsLife) —  Two British missionaries spent New Year behind bars in The Gambia after being sentenced to one-year jail terms with hard labor for allegedly criticizing the government of President Yahya Jammeh, who critics say has led the tiny African nation with an iron fist.

David Fulton, 60, and his wife Fiona Fulton, 46, pleaded guilty last week to charges of “sedition”, in hope of lenient sentences, BosNewsLife learned. The Fultons were also ordered to pay a fine of about  $10,000, in addition to their hard labor prison term.

Officials defended the punishments. “I found the offenses of the accused party to be very shocking and they have shown no respect for the country, the government and the president of the republic,” said Judge Edrissa Mbai.  “I will send a clear message to the offenders.” He added that the couple would receive an additional six months behind bars if the fine is not paid.

Among the judge’s arguments was an apparent e-mail exchange in which David Fulton allegedly wrote: “This country is sinking fast into a morass of Islam, many people are safe and standing for Christ, but they are the minority”.

In a “heartbreaking scene” at the start of the ruling the judge ordered the couple’s two year-old adopted daughter to be removed from the court because her cries of “Mommy, Mommy” were disturbing the proceedings, witnesses said. Their daughter was reportedly being cared for by friends.

The Fultons could lodge an appeal within 20 days, but it was not immediately clear if they would do so.

HELPING COUNTRY

Defense lawyer Antoumane Gaye told the court his clients had been working to help The Gambia, and asked that they be spared jail time. The Fultons,  who lived nine years in the country after first visiting as tourists, are affiliated with Westhoughton Pentecostal Church near the town of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England.

The church said on its Web site that Fulton is a chaplain with the Gambian army and also provides worship services to communities only reachable by riverboat, while his wife cares for the terminally ill. “We are shocked and saddened by the severity of the sentence and are doing whatever we can to seek their release. Please pray concerning an appeal against this sentence,” it added.

Friends said the pair were arrested in late November in their home in Serre Kunda, a town close to the capital Banjul, and moved to separate prisons.

Rights investigators expressed outrage about the sentencing. “It is not a crime to criticize a government,” apparently in letters, explained  Glenn Penner, who leads the Christian advocacy group Voice Of the Martyrs Canada (VOMC).  “In the 21st century, this type of repression is ludicrous. The charges brought against the Fultons say more about the government than they do about the couple,” he told BosNewsLife in a statement.

INTERNATIONAL CONCERN

Penner said his group is worried about the well-being of the couple as they have been sent to “the notoriously severe Mile Two Prison” in Banjul”.

Ironically, this is apparently the detention facility they visited regularly as part of their missionary work. In a recent report of human rights organization Amnesty International conditions in the Mile Two Prison were described as harsh with “overcrowding, poor sanitary conditions and foul food”.

President Jammeh is known for his tough treatment of critics, including also journalists, according to rights investigators. There is, “absolute intolerance of any form of criticism” in The Gambia, with death threats, surveillance and arbitrary night-time arrests the daily lot of journalists “who do not sing the government’s praises,” said advocacy group Reporters Without Borders.

Jammeh led a military coup in 1994 that overthrew the president and banned political activity. He won three widely criticized multiparty elections since then. The president has also been known for outlandish claims and bouts of paranoia that see alleged plotters thrown in jail.

AIDS ‘CURE’

In recent years the eccentric 43-year old retired colonel claimed to have a secret cure for AIDS – his prescription is a green herbal paste and a diet of bananas. Jammeh visited the sick and dying waving his hands over their heads and chanting, rather than supplying anti-retrovirals. A United Nations official who questioned the president’s ‘cure’ was thrown out of the country.

His apparent involvement in the sentencing of missionaries comes amid international concerns over the situation of Christians and religious minorities in the mainly Muslim country of close to two million people. About three percent consider themselves to be Christians with just over half of those being Roman Catholic, according to church estimates.

“There are just over 100 church congregations throughout The Gambia, half of which are Roman Catholic and 13 Methodist or Anglican,” said Westhoughton Pentecostal Church. Others are either independent or small church congregations, mainly evangelical and charismatic, the church explained.

While most of them are based in Banjul and the towns of Serrakunda, Brikama and Bakau, several evangelical churches have reportedly also mushroomed in villages and other areas.

4 COMMENTS

  1. Wednesday, December 31, 2008
    The British Couple David Borland Fulton and Fiona Racheal Fulton were yesterday sent to jail by the Banjul Magistrates’ Court presided by Principal Magistrate Edrissa Mbai for seditious publication.

    The couple were each convicted and sentenced to a fine of D250, 000 in default to serve one year and six months imprisonment. They where also given a mandatory jail term of one year imprisonment with hard labour. The court also ordered them to be deported to their country of origin after serving their sentence. Both sentences are to run concurrently.

    The British convicts were said to have made seditious publication which was intended to excite hatred, contempt and disaffection against the president or the government of The Gambia.

    In delivery his 28 page judgement, Principal Magistrate Edrissa Mbai stated that he found the seditious materials shocking, offensive and full of concoction. “The aim of these convicts can only be to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against the president or the government of The Gambia,” he stated.“These two British convicts are without doubt the enemies whose real motive must be to destroy the peace, love and harmony that has co-existed between Muslims and Christians for generations in this country,” he added. He said the convicts also aimed to give a negative image of the country they have been living in for nearly 10 years.

    He said the British convicts have shown no respect for our Leader H.E the president, the government and the people of The Gambia. “In fact from 2007 and 2008 the convicts have jointly and individually sent through e-mail’s and letters numerous materials which by all accounts are seditious in nature.

    He quoted from an e- mail dated 28thSeptember 2008, entitled “Hell in The Gambia” sent by the convicts. “This country is sinking fast into a morass of Islam, many people are safe and standing for Christ, but they are the minority”. Another e-mail quoted by the magistrate stated that there is very straight anti-Christian and white, anti-western movement here and twenty churches were closed down. The e-mail quoted read; “I believe that within two years Fiona and I will be thrown out of the country so it seems to me that it’s time to prepare”. This was the e-mail sent by David Borland.

    According to the magistrate this shows that the convicts knew what they were doing would put them in trouble and lead to their deportation from the country. He quoted an e-mail sent by David Borland which stated there was an attempt at bring Sharia law into The Gambia and the trade was that 20 unregistered churches were closed down.

    According to the magistrate, these are more then criticism, they are beyond the remit of freedom of expression. Another e-mail quoted by the magistrate stated, “ I believe it is quite clear that there is a growing extremist element in the army and indeed in the country, I suggest that we arm the Muslims with sticks and the Christians with machine guns and let them fight. Hell in The Gambia “what is going on in this country was real bad, real bad. Never before have Fiona and I felt such a presence of evil and we are shocked to find opposition within the Christian community.

    Another e-mail stated that there was an attempted coup. There are 37 men going through a court martial and these were last year. “It would be seem that as a Christian I am no longer allowed to tell a Muslim in the armed forces that they are going to hell and that Christian through faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation and heaven. Another e-mail quoted by the magistrate stated that President Yahya Jammeh is telling everyone he has the cure for Aids many think he has gone mad, he will not tell anyone what the cure is. The e-mail further added that the army is very concerned, people are losing respect for their leader, adding that this country is the gate-way to west and north Africa and indeed is a battle going on for it and the power of darkness are being invoked by those in authorities at the moment.

    Magistrate Mbai, in rounding up his judgement, stated that in this country, like any country, there were laws that one has to obey and where one fails to obey such laws one should be prepared to face the consequences. He said it is high time now that the security forces properly screen certain individuals before allowing them to stay here to the extent of allowing them unlimited access to the prison. He added that the offence is not only an offence against the Head of State, but against the government and the people of The Gambia

  2. We would have liked to get some reactions from the missionaries themselves or their supporters in your commentary/story about the alleged e-mails. As the article seems to suggest, the couple is not alone for being prosecuted for allegedly expressing opinions disliked by the government. “There are 37 men going through a court martial and these were last year.” That is in line with what advocacy groups such as Reporters Without Borders have said.

    BosNewsLife News Center

  3. They were only telling the truth. The Gambian goverment is another Adolf Hitler and they promote propagander.

    I have been on muslim fourms and expressed my views about how extreme their faith is. At the end of the day I don’t like the idea where countries are trying to make a one world religion and that is called Islam. They say about fighting terrorists but what the world leaders are doing is allowing Islam to persecute other people’s religious belief’s their all brain washed. Islam get the fuck out of the world. I hate Islam. And I am proud to be a christian a jew or even a buddist. But not a bloody muslim no way ho say. Barbaric and evil stone age faith. That is what is. Next they will try and make the whole world worship in Allah. Stick to your guns as they say and refuse. They can take away your home, freedom even your very lives but they can’t take away your faith.

  4. They were only telling the truth. The Gambian goverment is another Adolf Hitler and they promote propagander.

    I have been on muslim fourms and expressed my views about how extreme their faith is. At the end of the day I don’t like the idea where countries are trying to make a one world religion and that is called Islam. They say about fighting terrorists but what the world leaders are doing is allowing Islam to persecute other people’s religious belief’s their all brain washed. Islam get out of the world. I hate Islam. And I am proud to be a christian a jew or even a buddist. But not a muslim no way ho say. Barbaric and evil stone age faith. That is what is. Next they will try and make the whole world worship in Allah. Stick to your guns as they say and refuse. They can take away your home, freedom even your very lives but they can’t take away your faith.

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