Judge Advocate Otto During
By Aminata Phidelia Allie
An order granting 14 soldiers of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces, access to their bank accounts was made yesterday, May 28, after the soldiers made their 15th appearance at the court martial in Freetown, where they are standing trial for alleged mutiny. The judge gave the order "on grounds of humanity and fairness", and also ordered that their cheques and accounts be monitored by prison authorities to ensure that amounts withdrawn were within prison rules.
The order followed the death on Saturday, May 24, of the wife the second accused, Warrant Officer, Class II, Frederick Johnson. According to the defense team, the soldier's wife suffered from breast cancer and died "because her husband had been in prison with no access to his finances, and so could not support her medically".
Lead defense lawyer, Julius Cuffie had urged the Judge Advocate Otto During, to release the cheque books, especially that of the second accused, "in the interest of humanity, equity and fairness so that he can release money to facilitate the funeral of his late wife". He said the others accused could also withdraw money to take care of their families.
Lawyer Cuffie said that the prosecution, never added the cheque books and bank accounts to the list of exhibits they intend to tender in court in support of their case. He said it was a pointer that the prosecution was not going to tender them at anytime during the trial.
The defense lawyer also presented a death certificate and burial permit to the Judge Advocate "for judicial notice".
He further applied for the second accused to be granted leave from prison "so that he can at least attend the laying out ceremony of his late wife, with escort, so he can see the face of his wife for the last time".
The prosecutor Gerald Soyei objected to the cheque books being released to the accused persons, saying that the list of exhibits was bound to expand "as the circumstances dictate".
He said since he had under-taken to produce the cheques as prospective exhibits, the defense should allow him to prepare and serve them accordingly with documents to that effect, adding that failure to supply the exhibit list should not be used as a "sword as the prosecution should be in the position to extend or enlarge the exhibits. The list served on the defense is not binding and can be amended accordingly".
The prosecutor also argued against any leave being granted to the accused saying he was a flight risk "and prison officers and other security officers escorting him would be naturally overwhelmed by the situation to the extent of forgetting to monitor him". The judge upheld the prosecution's stance on the leave issue "because the security of the state is paramount to us all, even if strict proof was observed".
Arrested in August last year, the 14 men face an eight count indictment on mutiny. They deny all allegations.
(C) Politico 29/05/14
