The
Fultons in The Gambia
Serrakunda, The Gambia
Please pray for Dave
and Fiona Fulton who have been fined and sentenced to imprisonment with
hard labour for sedition in The Gambia.
Fiona is now home in Britain having served her sentence
but Dave is still in prison awaiting a judgement on an appeal.
See
updates below
See these links The
Daily Express The
Daily Mail The
Daily Telegraph
You may help their case by writing a letter see
below .
Latest update 29th December 2009 see below.
The majority of the population are Muslim (over 90%) although there is significant animist influence. Approximately 9% consider themselves to be Christians with just over half of those being Roman Catholic. There are just over 100 church congregations throughout The Gambia, half of which are Roman Catholic and 13 Methodist or Anglican. The remainder are either independent or small church congregations, mainly evangelical and charismatic.
These churches are predominantly based in the four main towns of Banjul (the capital), Serrakunda, Brikama and Bakau where 20% of the population live. The remainder live in villages or isolated homes spread from the coastal region along the 400 km length of the country heading inland.
The Fultons
 |
Dave
Fulton and his wife Fiona, daughter He has now been enabled to move on to a ministry on the river. This
involves reaching immigration outposts and villages only accessible by
boat. This is a major challenge, as it involves a ten day trip up
river every month. But by Gods grace he sees many people receive
Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. |
|
| Fiona trained with others in the church to look after terminally ill people and spends time visiting women in their homes and in hospital. | ||
8th December 2008
For more information contact Martin
Speed, Telephone 
+44 (0)1942 812480
On Saturday 29th November Dave and Fiona were arrested for sedition (undermining the authority of the government). They have since been held separately, Dave in the high security Mile Two prison in solitary confinement and Fiona in the police station initially with two year old Elizabeth but who is now in the care of friends.
They were formally charged with the offence in court on 4th December and remain imprisoned as a result because of the difficult bail conditions. They appeared in court again on Wednesday 24th December when they pleaded guilty to the charge of sedition and were sentenced on 30th December to one years imprisonment with hard labour and a fine of about £6250 in sterling.
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.
On 12th January a question was raised in the UK Parliament recorded in Hansard as below:
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Gambian authorities on the case of David and Fiona Fulton; and if he will make a statement. [244524]
Gillian Merron: Consular staff in the Gambia have been providing consular assistance to Mr. and Mrs. Fulton and their daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Fulton have been visited several times. They have legal representation and consular staff are in regular contact with their legal representative.
We are making further inquiries in relation to their case. In order to establish whether representations may be appropriate.
On 13th January a written question was submitted to the European Parliament as below:
WRITTEN QUESTION by Graham Watson (Alliance of
Liberals and Democrats for Europe) to the Commission
Subject: David and Fiona Fulton's arrest in The Gambia
Is the Commission aware of the case of my former constituents David and
Fiona Fulton and the circumstances surrounding their arrest and
detention in The Gambia? What representations has the Commission made to
the Government of The Gambia? And what further steps is the Commission
undertaking to encourage their urgent release?
We have no information concerning a response.
26th March
Dave Fulton faced a charge of forgery a Technical Assistance
registration plate to which he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three
years imprisonment. It is not clear whether this sentence is concurrent
with the other or not. However, we understand they are making an appeal
on this sentence.
On 25th May Dave Fulton is due to appear in
court again to defend a charge of impersonating an officer in the
army.
Please note that Dave has been seen in the prison chapel and so is
evidently not in solitary confinement anymore. Fiona has been seen as
well and looked well although she had lost a little weight.
A recent statement in the Gambian press stated: "The Gambia Police Force in ensuring general security will no longer allow the usage of licence plates that are not officially issued by the police", which of course implies they did allow them up until now.
The court appearance due on the 16th June was not made so the magistrate
has dismissed the case.
See this link for the
full story.
There is a preliminary hearing on Thursday 25 th to seek leave
for appeal both against conviction AND sentence regarding the number plate
charge.
Leave for appeal was granted by the above hearing and the date of the
Appeal hearing has been set for Monday 20th July 2009. We are
encouraged by this news as it is another step in the right direction. Let’s
praise God for the progress so far and pray that the appeal might come
to a satisfactory conclusion.
Due to the imminent summer recess the Judge at the above hearing allowed the
defence and prosecution to continue the case by written submissions and, when the
court re-opens on 5th October 2009, briefs will be filed and a date set
for judgement.
Mid September is still a possible release date for Fiona. Please pray for the lawyers
involved in the case, for Fiona's release, rapid progress after 5th October and
for God's intervention in the whole situation.
13th
November
The appeal was put back to 2nd November and then 9th November, and
currently the information we have suggests that the appeal against the
number plate charge will be judged on 2nd December 2009.
Click
here for the details in The Point newspaper
6th
December 2009
The judgment on the appeal concerning the number plates was not given on
2nd December as expected. We have no further information about this,
neither on any impending release of Fiona. Her complete sentence is due
to finish at the end of this month.
29th
December 2009
Please note that within the next couple of days Fiona's full sentence ends
and therefore her release is expected. No more definite information is
available concerning this nor about the judgment on Dave's appeal which
has been repeatedly postponed.
30th
December 2009
Fiona has been released and is now home in Britain having served her
sentence but Dave is still awaiting a judgement on his appeal against the
forged number plates conviction.
Latest update 25th
January 2010
For more information contact Martin Speed on 
+44(0) 1942 812480
Please write
a letter to encourage them
Address the
letter to either Dave Fulton or Fiona Fulton
Mile Two prison, Banjul,
Gambia
(please do not send a letter
addressed to both because it will probably not be delivered)
Do not refer to the court case. Do
not criticise the powers that be. Simply offer encouragement.
Write a Letter to any of the following to highlight their case
| The Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the UK government | |
| David Miliband |  |
| Lord Malloch Brown | |
| Bill Rammell | |
| Gillian Merron | |
| Church Leaders | |
| The Archbishop of Canterbury |  |
| The Moderator of the Church of Scotland |  |
| Your MP -The Westhoughton MP is Rt Hon Ruth Kelly MP |
 |
-
Pray before you write
-
Stick to facts and be brief -imagine you have a 30 second phone call to make your point.
-
Ask if they are aware of the media interest in the case
-
Explain your connection with the couple, friend, supporter, Christian etc
-
Explain your understanding of why they are in Gambia and your knowledge of their objectives (see above) NOT undermining the President and Gambian Government.
-
Ask for their help at the highest level
-
Give your personal details -phone number, email address etc
-
When the letter is complete read and re-read it, discarding anything which does not focus on the facts.
