By Abass Jalloh
The defense team representing seven men charged for committing various public order offences in the Sambaia Bendugu bye-election in Tonkolili district has expressed dissatisfaction over the absence of both the prosecution and its witness(es) for the continuation of the matter.
On Thursday 1st September 2022, the prosecution appeared in court, but there was no witness for the trial to commence, so the matter was adjourned to Monday 5th September 2022 due to this disruption.
On Monday, both the prosecutor, Ahmed Bockarie, and the Twitness (es) failed to appear in court for hearing.
John Lamin Foray, a Chief Inspector of Police in Sambaia Bendugu town, is the third prosecuting witness to testify in court and was scheduled for examination on especially the search warrant that the police conducted in the house of the first accused, Joseph Sheku Jalloh.
Joseph Sheku Jalloh, Saio Jalloh, Kulio Jalloh, Lansana Daramy, Abdulai Kamara, Ibrahim Kamara, and Michael Kamara alias “Trayman” are before the court for allegedly committing various public order offences relating to campaigning for parliamentary bye-election in June at Sambaia Bendugu town in Tonkolili district.
At this stage, lead defense lawyer, Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara, renewed his application for bail for all of the accused persons, noting that their freedom is important at this stage, given that they are innocent until proven guilty.
Lawyer Kamara noted that Monday marked their “102 days of incarceration while being on remand”.
There have been three witness but no evidence has been levied against them, he noted, assuring that they have reliable sureties who were ready to stand for them.
The sixth and seventh accused persons were arrested by civilians who were never in court to either testify or be examined, he explained.
In his response, Magistrate Mark Ngegba stated that he would risk granting bail due to the absence of the prosecutor and his witness (es) and being that the addresses of the accused persons in the records are not from Freetown.
Bail was refused, and the matter continues today 7th September 2022.
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