By Mohamed T. Massaquoi
Two people have been finally charged for the murder of Sierra Leonean journalist Ibrahim Samura, 17 months after his death.
Samura died on June 6, 2018, apparently from injuries he sustained when he was beaten earlier in March during the general elections.
He was reportedly attacked and beaten by some senior members of the then ruling All People’s Congress (APC) party.
Last week, the former Mayor of Freetown and APC Western Area Chairman, Herbert George Williams and Abubakar Daramy a government spokesman in the former administration and Western Area publicity secretary of the APC, were detained in connection with the incident. They were each slammed with two counts of murder and conspiring with other unknown persons to commit grievous bodily harm.
Magistrate Mark Ngegba of Court Number Two at the Pa Demba Road court house sent the two accused on remand to the central prison, after a brief exchange by the counsels.
The lead defense lawyer, Lansana Dumbuya said the matter should have been dismissed because the prosecution lawyers had failed to provide witnesses despite the case having been under investigation at the Criminal Investigations Department for two years.
Dumbuya also made an application quoting the Criminal Procedures Act for the accused persons to have the opportunity to go through the statements given by the witnesses against them.
“Every allegation against the accused persons must be made available to them,” Dumbuya said.
He also pleaded with the court to grant bail to the accused persons, which was denied by Magistrate Ngegba.
Prosecution lawyers, Robin Mason and Adrian Fisher, pleaded for adjournment so they would present their witnesses.
Judge Ngegba also told the prosecution lawyers to make available their witnesses at the next court sitting, which is tomorrow – Tuesday 29th October.
Samura, a journalist critical of the then government of Ernest Bai Koroma, was founder and Managing Editor of the New Age newspaper.
The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) has been leading calls for justice for his death.
Last June, to mark the anniversary of his death, the daughter of the deceased journalist launched a Foundation in his honor. Ballamatu Samura used the occasion to condemn the failure of the Sierra Leone Police to bring to justice the suspected murderers of her dad, citing the slow pace at which the investigation had been conducted by the police.
© 2019 Politico Online
