By Hajaratu Kalokoh
The father of an alleged murder victim and the father of a two-year-old toddler who was assaulted have complained about the delay in prosecuting their cases on behalf of their children.
Police started processing documents for both cases since the first and second weeks of October, but delays between the Police and the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) meant that both matters have taken too long to be charged to court.
Sulaiman Sesay is the father of Mohamed Foday Sesay who was stabbed to death at age 18 by Foday Bangura, 16. Mr Sesay explained to Politico the emotional toll the delay has caused him. He said since the incident occurred on October 4th this year, the justice system had not done enough to sought justice for his son.
"This is a murder case, why the delay? It is the responsibility of the government. Cases of such nature needs no compromise; is it because I am poor? This is not right. I just want justice for my son," Sesay lamented.
"This delay of justice in this country will inspire someone to get revenge. I do not want that. I want the law to take its course. We have done the 40th day [prayer] ceremony and up till now we have not heard any development. Every time I check with the police station, they will tell me they have not received the file from Directorate of Public Prosecution," he added.
Since the incident occurred on October 4th this year, the DPP has not sent an advice for the case to be prosecuted by the Police. According to the Police at Congo Cross Division, which is handling the case, they have sent the file weeks ago.
Politico visited the DPP's office on the 4th and 22nd of November to check on the progress of the case. We produced the number of the case file just to help narrow down the search, after the DPP had earlier declined to comment on the story because they didn’t have the case file number.
Still, an official insisted they did not have the case file.
“The case file is not here. I have checked on my desk it is not here. There are procedures and processes involved in handling such files. We have not received any file from the police" Kofi O’Connor, Assistant Secretary to the Director of Public Prosecution, said.
However, Detective Police Constable, Mahmoud Fullah, who is monitoring the case from Congo Cross, insisted that the case file had been sent.
"I am surprised to hear that the file is not in their custody. We have sent the file from the 14th of October for professional advice. We will only charge the matter to court when we have received the file from them (DPP)” Fullah said.
Whiles the delay continues between the Police and the DPP, the trail of the investigation is getting cold. And the anguish of Mr Sesay and his family continues.
This case has provoked animosity between Collegiate Secondary School, where the deceased was attending and St Edwards Secondary School where the alleged perpetrator was attending.
Whiles authorities at St Edwards have denied their attachment to the alleged perpetrator, Foday Bangura, pupils from Collegiate have been threatening to protest for justice on behalf of their murdered colleague.
Delay in charging cases to court is blamed for the death of many cases and this has contributed to a lot of denial of justice to many citizens.
Another case involving a two-year-old who was severely beaten by the school proprietor of Bernis Preparatory School at Goderich is also dragging amidst protracted police investigation.
Reports from the Lumley Police Station suggest that Berther Thompson assaulted the child as a punishment for biting one his colleagues.
The father of the victim explained his frustration to Politico over the delay. His frustration also concerns a delay to send the file from one government department to another.
“I do not like the current status of the case, the police said they are waiting for the file and I don’t know when the file will come because every time I check at the police they will tell me the file is yet to be returned by DPP. Nothing has been done so far,” he lamented.
Police say Ms Thompson could be looking at a charge of child cruelty if the file comes through.
Cases like these are sent to the Legal and Justice Department of the Police before they are sent to the DPP for advice.
"We have sent the file to the Legal and Justice Department, from there it’s taken to the DPP. We have not received the file from them (DPP)," Detective Mohamed Koroma of the Lumley Division told Politico.
Politico visited the Department of Legal and Justice Department at Central Police Station on the 4th of November. The office was almost full of piles of paper files. We collaborated with the officers to search for the file and it was finally seen.
It should have been processed and sent to DPP immediately. But upon our visit to the DPP almost three weeks later, we learnt that they have still not received the file from Central Police Station.
Meanwhile, the Bernis Preparatory School victim’s father, who has since transferred his child to another school, said all he wanted was justice for his son.
“I just want justice to prevail. I want the perpetrator to realize that what she did was wrong, because if she has done that to one kid, she might have done it to others without people knowing about it,” he said.
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