By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
Magistrate Hannah Bonnie’s office at Court No. One in Freetown was reportedly burgled over the weekend. The incident was one of two cases that the Sierra Leone Judiciary confirmed on Monday morning as being under investigation.
The Public Relations Officer of the Judiciary, Moses Kamara told journalists in an interview on Monday that Court Number One in Freetown and Court Number One in Bo were both attacked by unknown assailant (s) over the weekend.
Authorities in Freetown and Bo only noticed the robbery on Monday.
Kamara said: “We are affirming that there were breakages in Bo and Freetown and two female magistrates were targeted. Court number one in Bo presided over by Magistrate Isata Sellu Tucker and court number one in Freetown presided over by Magistrate Hanna Bonnie.”
The coincidence of the attack is striking. Magistrate Bonnie is currently presiding over a politically charged case involving 23 people who were part of a political violence in July, among them Karamoh Kabba and Kasho Holland Cole, two senior stakeholders in the main opposition All Peoples Congress.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) have since taken charge of the investigation. There is no idea yet as to what might have gone missing. The Operations Officer at the CID, Superintendent Augustin Mansaray told Politico that Bonnie herself will have to determine that later.
“The break in is real. We haven’t discovered what is missing yet. She will have to tell us that in due time. No one has been arrested yet, it’s too early in the investigation,” Supt. Mansaray said.
It is rare for court premises to be robbed. Kamara said court premises across the country have armed guards that are supposed to protect these premises.
“All the courts have armed security men. Were they on duty? That is a question for the Police,” he stated.
It is not clear how this will affect the work of the magistrate courts now. Court proceedings across the country are notoriously slow, this latest incident will just further clog up an already clogged judicial system. The courts did not seat on Monday.
Judicial officials told journalists that the court will not seat until September 6th as a result of the incident.
Kamara said: “I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, it all depends on how expeditiously the Police carry on with their investigation.”
However, Mansaray said there is no timeline on when the investigations will be concluded. But he assured that they will conduct it as swiftly as possible.
“We can’t give any time limit, but we will use all our resources to ensure we speedily investigate and bring the culprit to book.”
Despite the attacks, the judiciary say they will not be intimidated in carrying on with their job.
Moses said: “Whiles we are concerned, we are also of the view that nobody will subject us to fear because section 120 sub-section 3 says the judiciary is subjected to the constitutional law. We are not subjected to people trying to impact that spirit of timidity in us.
“We will continue to do our work; we will continue to dispense justice using the law and evidence,” he stressed.
The attack has raised fresh concerns over the competence of Police officers guarding public officials and public buildings. Last month the home of Nigerian judge, Justice Biobele Geoergewill was also burgled. The investigation is still on.
In the meantime, Police say they will look at reinforcing security for court promises.
“We will definitely look at strengthening security in court premises across the country,” Mansaray said.
© 2019 Politico Online
