The Supreme Court of Gambia has postponed until May the suit President Yahya Jammeh [BBC profile] filed after he was defeated by Adama Barrow in the country’s general election. Chief justice Emmanuel Fagbenle said that the seven-member panel that will be overseeing the case will not all be available until May [BBC report]. Jammeh, who is backed by the country’s military, has stated that “serious and unacceptable abnormalities” occurred during the course of the election and will not hand over the presidency. It is unclear what will happen when Jammeh’s term ends on January 18.

Last month Jammeh said that he would challenge the election results before his country’s Supreme Court [JURIST report]. This past November, Human Rights Watch reported that intimidation of opposition leaders was threatening [JURIST report] a fair election in Gambia. This report came after the Gambian government announced that it would be leaving [JURIST report] the International Criminal Court (ICC). During the televised statement, Information Minister Sheriff Bojang criticized the court for ignoring western atrocities, referring to the ICC as “an International Caucasian Court.” Jammeh had previously called upon the court to investigate the death of African migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea to access Europe. Instead, Gambia alleges, the ICC has been disproportionately scrutinizing African leaders. Gambia’s intended departure was the third by an African nation.