By Saio Marrah
Amadu Koita Makalo, the first accused and three others in the ongoing treason trial were identified in CCTV pictures at the main entrance to the Male Correctional center on November 26, 2023. The pictures were shown in court.
Led in evidence by the lead state prosecutor for this session, Lawyer Isaac Yusif Sesay, the Systems and Data Analyst at the Cyber Unit of Criminal Investigation Department, Detective Inspector Mohamed Jusu the 30th prosecution witness, identified each of the four accused persons who were in the dock, explaining the role each of the accused persons played as the footage rolled on.
He said the 34 minutes and 12-second footage captured the front view of the Pademba Road Correctional Centre, identified the accused persons, place, time, and date and stated that the material was not tampered with.
Koita was shown holding an AK-47 rifle in civilian clothing, while the 12th accused, Abdul Sorie Hassan Kamara was seen with a rifle, firing and walking towards Koita.
The 11th accused, Kabba Kamara was seen wearing a white T-shirt with Operational Support Division (OSD) uniform trousers, holding tear gas and firing towards the wall of the prison.
The 10TH accused, Tamba Yamba, was also seen in police OSD uniform at the premises of the Correctional centre.
At the start of his testimony, the witness told the court that he was part of the team of investigators looking into the incident and that as an expert in cyber investigation, several electronic devices including mobile phones and tablets were handed over to him for analysis. He said the investigating team also requested CCTV footage from the Male Correctional centre.
The court heard that the footage handed over to the team, covering the period 24 to 27 November of 2023, was examined and analyzed for the investigation team to watch.
The witness said they discovered that there were several armed men in police OSD and military uniforms while others were in civil dress. He said for them to identify the people they saw in action in the footage on the day of the incident, the investigation team invited some military and police officers to help.
Justice Komba Kamanda called on the jurors to carefully look at the footage and as well as look at each of the accused persons in the dock, whose names were mentioned to ascertain whether they were the actual persons spotted in the footage.
The case resumes on Wednesday 8th May this year.
The four accused persons together with eight others are charged with treason, misprision of treason, murder, harbouring and several other offences related to the incident.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (08/05/2024)
