By Edna Amie Ngegbain Makeni
Appeal Court Judge, Monfred Sesay, has during the ongoing annual Judicial Week aimed at reviewing the cases of inmates and decongesting prisons, discharged 23 inmates from Correctional Centres in Tonkolili District, Northern Sierra Leone.
22 cases were brought before him on Monday November 14 and Tuesday November 15 in Magburaka out of which 14 inmates were discharged.
On the same Tuesday, the judge moved to the Mafanta Correctional Centre which is supposed to have a supposed capacity of 580 inmates but was accommodating 593 inmates, with 76 of them from Magistrates courts and 517 from the High Court, all having served more than five years.
The centre has a small medical bed for patients with two health staff who receive supplies from the Ministry of Health, according to the Officer in Charge (OC), Joseph John Senessie.
During the court hearing at the Mafanta, 21 inmates were brought before Justice Sesay, among which were nine special cases that were not on the suggested list for review, but included, partly due to the health status of some of them during imprisonment.
Justice Sesay discharged the nine and ordered that the Legal Aid Board assist three of them who had health issues, with transportation, medical fees, and some clothing.
The OC thanked the Judiciary of Sierra Leone, acknowledging that the initiative has helped in reducing the number of inmates at the centre, to its normal capacity.
He further recommended that the judicial week be observed quarterly, and that Mafanta be provided with electricity supply for the safety of officers, inmates and the community itself.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (18/11/22)
