{"id":88274,"date":"2025-10-18T17:23:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T17:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/rights-group-urges-public-access-to-coroners-inquiry"},"modified":"2025-10-19T08:27:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T08:27:55","slug":"rights-group-urges-public-access-to-coroners-inquiry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/rights-group-urges-public-access-to-coroners-inquiry","title":{"rendered":"Rights Group Urges Public Access to Coroner&#8217;S Inquiry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. <\/strong><\/span><b>A human rights group has called on the Chief Justice of The Gambia to immediately lift restrictions on public access to the ongoing coroner\u2019s inquiry into the death of Omar Badjie.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The Edward Francis Small Centre for Rights and Justice (EFSCRJ) has argued that justice \u201ccannot be done in secret.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a public statement dated October 14, 2025, the human rights organization expressed deep concern over reports that the inquiry was being conducted privately in the chambers of the presiding magistrate, with attendance reportedly limited to the deceased\u2019s family members and their legal representatives.<\/p>\n<p>According to EFSCRJ, a coroner\u2019s inquiry is by law a public judicial process intended to uncover the cause of unexplained or suspicious deaths, especially when state agencies such as the police or security forces may be involved. The Centre said the public and the media have a legitimate right to follow the proceedings in the interest of transparency and accountability.<\/p>\n<p>The organization rejected claims that the case involves \u201cnational security\u201d matters, describing that justification as unfounded and contrary to the principle of open justice. It warned that holding the inquest in secret could undermine public confidence in the judiciary and fuel perceptions of a cover-up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShielding such an inquiry from public view raises serious suspicion,\u201d the statement read. \u201cJustice conducted in secrecy creates the perception of bias and impunity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>EFSCRJ also criticized what it described as a lack of public explanation from the presiding magistrate regarding the decision to restrict access, calling it a \u201cbreach of judicial accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The rights group urged the Chief Justice to ensure that the remainder of the inquest is conducted in open court and that media access is guaranteed. It also called on the judiciary to uphold constitutional values of transparency, fairness, and public justice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe death of Omar Badjie is not just a family tragedy,\u201d the statement concluded. \u201cIt is a national accountability test. Justice must not only be done, but must also be seen to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Gambia<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. A human rights group has called on the Chief Justice of The Gambia to immediately lift restrictions on public access to the ongoing coroner\u2019s inquiry into the death of Omar Badjie. The Edward Francis Small Centre for Rights and Justice (EFSCRJ) has argued that justice \u201ccannot be done in secret.\u201d In a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":88273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-88274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Rights Group Urges Public Access to Coroner&#039;S Inquiry - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A human rights group has called on the Chief Justice of The Gambia to immediately lift restrictions on public access ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/rights-group-urges-public-access-to-coroners-inquiry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rights Group Urges Public Access to Coroner&#039;S Inquiry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A human rights group has called on the Chief Justice of The Gambia to immediately lift restrictions on public access ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/rights-group-urges-public-access-to-coroners-inquiry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-18T17:23:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-19T08:27:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/10\/sm_1760798672.543618.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/rights-group-urges-public-access-to-coroners-inquiry#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/rights-group-urges-public-access-to-coroners-inquiry\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Rights Group Urges Public Access to Coroner&#8217;S Inquiry\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-18T17:23:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-19T08:27:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/rights-group-urges-public-access-to-coroners-inquiry\"},\"wordCount\":350,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/rights-group-urges-public-access-to-coroners-inquiry#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/10\/sm_1760798672.543618.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/rights-group-urges-public-access-to-coroners-inquiry#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/rights-group-urges-public-access-to-coroners-inquiry\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/rights-group-urges-public-access-to-coroners-inquiry\",\"name\":\"Rights Group Urges Public Access to Coroner'S Inquiry - 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