By Aminata Phidelia Allie
Former deputy minister of education, Mahmoud Tarawally, who faces charges of rape and assault in the High Court, appeared yesterday where the victim’s former boyfriend testified against him.
The matter, which started at the lower court over a year ago, was committed to the upper court for proper trial last year after the prosecution adduced sufficient evidence against the sacked minister before magistrate Komba Kamanda then at Court No. 2 in Freetown.
At the High Court, presided over by Justice Abdulai Cham, two more witnesses gave testimonies,as PW 5 and 6, to aid the prosecution’s work of proving that the disgraced minister actually raped the university student on 9, September 2013.
The former fiancé, Ishmael Kingston, a 24-year-old student,said the alleged victim had met him at his residence on Circular Road on the morning of the above date and informed him that she was going to see Tarawally in his office. He said the minister had promised to help her secure an international scholarship to study in Ukraine. He said she later told him on phone around 2:45pm that she was already on her way back.
“After I waited for a while and didn’t see her I left for an internet café. I got a call from my friend who asked him to come home immediately because something had happened”.
“When I got home, I saw my girlfriend crying bitterly. I asked her what had happened but she just kept crying instead of talking,” he told the court.
He narrated that when she finally explained her ordeal, they were advised to call in a journalist and explain the matter. He said they did that and the journalist did a recording of the victim’s explanation after which he advised them to report the matter to the police.
He said he took snap shots of her right face, mouth, shoulder and left arm as she had bruises all over her body and was bleeding.
He said that they were referred to the New England Ville Police Station after they first reported the matter at the Adelaide Street Police Station. At New England, he said, they were given a police medical form which, he added, was endorsed at Rainbow Center in Freetown.
Highlighting inconsistencies in the witnesses’ testimony during cross-examination by defense lawyer Sulaiman Kabba Koroma, the lawyer challenged PW5 that he himself had granted an interview to a journalist before taking the matter to the police.
The witness replied in the negative but when records were checked, it was proven that he (witness) had affirmed at the lower court that he did speak to a journalist.
Again, Lawyer Kabba challenged the witness that he could not have been able to take a picture with the victim’s phone then as its screen was damaged but the witness argued that a damaged screen could not have prevented him from taking shots.
A sixth witness, who identified herself as a “friend and sister” to the victim was also cross-examined and several inconsistencies were detected in her testimony.
Asked whether or not she was the one that had introduced the victim to the accused then, Yvonne Jones denied but it was proven that she had affirmed that in her testimony back at the magistrates’ court.
Jones said she never had prior knowledge of the victim’s visit to the then minister. Again, her testimony at the lower court bore records of her testifying that the victim always told her whenever she visited the accused.
The cross-examination could not be completed because the defense lawyer requested to view the witnesses’ statement to the police so as to point out certain things to her. But as he could not access the statement at that moment, the matter had to be adjourned. It comes up again on Thursday, February 12.
Mahmoud Tarawallie, who was a deputy minister in the present government was accused of rape in September of 2013 and was later sacked by the president. After spending sometime on remand at the Pademba Road Prison, now Correctional Center, in Freetown, he was granted bail. The matter was subsequently committed to the High Court of Sierra Leone for proper trial.He was granted bail after his first appearance before Justice Cham.
© Politico 11/02/15
