By Saio Marrah
Magistrate Mark Ngegba of Pademba Road Magistrate Court No. 1 in Freetown has ordered a bench warrant for Emmanuel Saidu Conteh, a Former Member of Parliament (MP) representing the main opposition Political Party, All People’s (APC), and two others for failure to attend their court case hearing.
The presiding magistrate ordered the bench warrant on Friday 21st July 2023 after State Prosecutor, Yusif Isaac Sesay told the court that all the accused were absent from the proceeding and that the prosecution was constrained to continue with the case.
The accused were charged with conspiracy to commit a felony and illegal importation of arms and ammunition. The arms and ammunition were allegedly discovered in a Nissan Pathfinder vehicle with serial number MSKU 974643, at the Queen Elizabeth the II Quay in Freetown.
Police Constable 9268 Joseph Collins, a prosecution witness, had testified in court that he and five others were assigned to investigate unassembled pistols, 12 empty magazines, and 100 live rounds of ammunition all allegedly found in the vehicle of the former lawmaker.
The witness told the court that they had to seek the services of ballistic specialists to assist with the investigation.
During that testimony, the police witness tendered documents that included a delivery order from the shipping company, Maerskline dated 1 July 2021, and non-negotiable waybill dated 28 June the same year, a deposit slip of the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank and scanning receipt for a forty feet container, among others.
Collins also tendered a document from Maerskline and Ocean Shipping Company based in the United States.
According to the witness, he was on duty the day the first and third accused, who worked for Capital Africa Logistics were brought for investigation, and the latter was charged only with conspiracy to commit felony. The former parliamentarian is the second accused in the criminal preliminary investigation before the magistrate court.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (24/07/23)
