By Francis H. Murray
The suspects in one of the most prickly cases of rape in Sierra Leone have been set free by the High Court.
The death of teenager, Hannah Bockarie in 2015 provoked public outrage and demonstrations, amidst calls for action against rising cases of rape in the country at the time. Ms Bockarie, a sex worker, was raped, murdered and her body dumped at the Aberdeen Beach, near Lumley.
Women’s groups and rights campaigners took to the streets of Freetown to call for justice for her deaths.
After five years of trial, the only two suspects in the case were let go by an eleven-member jury, which unanimously returned a verdict of not guilty.
The suspects, Mohamed Lamin and Paul Corn, had been charged with two counts of conspiracy to murder and murder.
The case was presided over by Justice Don Bosco Allieu, who urged the jurors not to attach emotions in reaching their verdict and to ensure that they were not left in any doubt in respect of the matter.
State Prosecutor, Alberta Kargbo, recalled that at the end of preliminary investigations at the Magistrate court, the matter was committed to the High Court on 31st October 2016. She told the jurors that as it is in all criminal matters, the burden of proof rested on the prosecution to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt, which she believed she did.
A total of eight witnesses were used by the prosecution, among them a friend of the victim, Shanita Jabbie, who herself winded up died in suspicious circumstances.
However, Defence counsel, Lawyer Alpha Bah, said that the prosecution had ‘‘woefully’’ failed to adduce any evidence before the court connecting his clients to the murder of the deceased. He noted that the accused persons were innocent and ordinary people who at some point offered to genuinely help the police when the corpse of the deceased was initially found along the Aberdeen beach.
Lawyer Bah explained that the 1st prosecution witness, Sylvanus Sheku Koroma, who was the first to arrive at the scene of crime, told the court that he called the 1st accused at his candy shop, who responded and even offered his cell phone for the police to call his superiors. Bah argued that the police initially arrested the 1st accused for loitering and then later for murder. He also recalled that DNA samples of both the accused persons were taken to the United Kingdom for forensic examination, and they came back negative.
The defense lawyer argued that because the police could not get the real killers of the deceased, they looked for scapegoats who turned out to be the accused persons who were found some kilometers away from the scene.
He said the deceased was sexually assaulted and killed by other people who were certainly not the accused.
According to an autopsy examination report conducted by government pathologist, Dr. Simeon Owizz Koroma, the victim died of manual strangulation and blunt force, with signs of swollen private parts.
The accused persons, who pleaded not guilty to the allegation at the start of the trial, relied entirely on their statements to the police.
The first accused, Mohamed Lamin, on Thursday raised his hands at the pronouncement of the verdict, as though thanking God, amidst tears rolling down his face. The court room briefly erupted with celebration from the audience, mainly friends and family members of the accused, among them popular rapper LAJ, who is a friend to Lamin. The celebrity artist was also visibly in tears after the verdict.
But not everyone was happy about the day’s decision.
Father of the victim, Joseph Bockarie, expressed disappointment at the outcome. Mr Bockarie, a retired military officer and a farmer who currently lives Kenema, learnt about the verdict only when contacted by Politico.
“I feel bad. The only thing is that I am poor. If I had the resources, I would fight back,” he said.
Mr Bockarie said he was expecting justice which he didn’t think he had.
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