By Abass Jalloh
In determining whether or not to grant bail, High Court Judge, Adrian Fisher, presiding over the trial of Musician Alhaji Amadu Bah, better known as LAJ, has evaluated the medical report by the defense and the affidavit by the prosecution, concluding that there is a significant risk that giving the rapper bail will lead to further attempts to interfere with witnesses and equally that the accused will not return to continue trial.
LAJ’s legal team had earlier made a bail application on his behalf.
“In the circumstances, the orders that this court gives is that the application of bail is refused, the accused will stay in custody pending his trial, and secondly the Director General of the Sierra Leone Correctional Service shall provide the accused with access to medical treatment in custody where it is so required if there are inadequate medical facilities for the accused within the correctional centre in which he is confined,” Justice Fisher stated while delivering his ruling on both applications on Friday October 21.
He said: ‘’the law provides the mandatory statutory requirement for the correctional service, in whose care the accused is, to provide medical treatment for him if needed even outside the correctional service centre where he is held. The correctional service is under the legal duty to provide him with medical care as and when required.”
The judge added that he had already indicated that the trial should be speedily concluded in the interest of justice and that to that extent, the court should allocate adequate court time to deal with the matter as quickly as possible within the time it sets.
This followed the bail application with a medical report by the defence in the previous hearings which were “personally” submitted to the judge as a reason for granting LAJ bail, considering his health condition.
The Prosecutor, Yusuf Isaac Sesay, however objected to the bail application by reading and presenting to the court an affidavit of Ishmael Kamara (the first prosecution witness), which was sworn on Thursday 13th October 2022, revealing that the he (the witness), since this matter came up for trial, had been receiving calls from people on behalf of the relatives of LAJ.
Lawyer Sesay stated that, according to the affidavit, LAJ’s father and one Junior were “caught red-handed on the act, trying to give money to this deponent at the filling station at Wilberforce for him not to come to court to run away.”
The hearing also saw the continuation of cross-examination of the first prosecution witness, Ishmael Kamara, by Lawyer Mohamed Pa Momoh Fofanah. The witness last testified on Monday October 17, followed by a cross-examination by Lawyer Madieu Sesay.
Before the start of the cross-examination on Friday, the prosecutor objected to the continuity of cross-examination by Fofanah since the witness was last cross examined by Madieu Sesay, arguing that the defense should provide the law that justifies that.
However, Justice Fisher stated that “for fairness” sake, he did not see it as any issue for cross-examination and that lawyers can choose from their team to cross examine a witness.
Part of the cross-examination was on the contention on the amount of money LAJ allegedly took from the witness's sales bag and the remaining amount. The witness, while asked for justification, told the court that they later knew how much was missing and what remained after the station manager had balanced the money in the presence of himself and a police officer from the Congo Cross Police station where he had had lodged a report.
He was earlier asked whether he could remember how much litres of fuel he had sold for that day, but the witness said he could not recall.
He also told the court that a colleague Christiana's Tecno Spark 6 mobile phone that was allegedly stolen by the accused was inside the said bag and that he did not know whether the phone was later returned to her or not.
He put it to the witness that he testified at the magistrate court that Buju (one of LAJ's colleagues) was the one who returned the said phone. The witness said he could not remember.
LAJ it was alleged,on the 12th June 2022 in Freetown robbed Francess Wilson the sum of OLe 2,090,000 (two million and ninety thousand Leones).
He is also being accused of robbing Ishmael Kamara the sum of OLe 4,200,000 (four million two hundred thousand Leones).
On count three, the accused on the same date and at the same place robbed Christiana Koroma of one Tecno mobile phone valued OLe 1,600,000 (one million six hundred thousand Leones).
According to count four, on the same date and at the same place, LAJ maliciously inflicted grievous bodily harm on Musa Mansaray.
He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.
The trial continues again today October 24.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (24/10/22)
