By Saio Marrah
A Supreme Court judge has dismissed a human trafficking charge against one Zainab Kamara, saying there were no reasonable grounds to establish the human trafficking offence.
Justice Ansumana Ivan Sesay was addressing the High Court after the accused had pleaded guilty to two counts of child stealing and human trafficking. He sentenced the accused to 10 months imprisonment on the first count of child stealing, a jail term that she had already done on remand. Justice Sesay expressed dismay over the second count saying “she had been wrongly charged” and that “even though the accused has pleaded guilty to count two [human trafficking] which in my legal view was wrongly drafted by the state…in law, one cannot plead guilty to an offence, not in existence and in the circumstances I will discountenance count two.”
Zainab Kamara could only tell the court that she could not tell the exact age of the child that was handed over to her mother at the time. She suggested the child could be between 7 and 8 years old.
Justice Sesay ordered the Legal Aid Board to counsel the convict and take care of her including transportation to her home in Bo.
Another accused, Osman Mansaray who was facing charges of fraudulent conversion, was sentenced to 15 months, a time he had already spent on remand.
Mansaray pleaded guilty to fraudulently converting a taxi car entrusted to him for commercial purposes to his personal use. He told the court that while driving the taxi, three men hired him to go to Makolo in the Masiaka area and that on their way the men attacked and kicked him out of the car and stole the vehicle. He said he did not report the matter to the Masiaka Police Station, but travelled to Freetown and informed the owner of the taxi who then took him to the PWD police post where he was detained.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (19/05/23)
