By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
Justice Biobele Georgewill has reversed his decision demanding the physical appearance of persons of interest in front of the Commissions of Inquiry.
“I hold that the right of persons of interest to decline to give any response to any evidence led by the State is inalienable and therefore, this commission will refrain from trampling upon or interfering with such inalienable rights of persons of interest,” he said in a statement read to the court on Thursday.
The judge’s ruling comes just a day after a heated exchange in the commission between him and the Defence Counsel on the probe in the Ministry of Youth Affairs.
Biobele is the head commissioner of the entire commission and he is the presiding judge in Commission No.64, otherwise known as Commissioner No. I. As part of his mandate, the Nigerian judge is looking in to the Ebola saga, unsecured loans dealing with the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank, the Ministry of Youth Affairs, the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources, among others.
Justice Biobele had earlier in the week demanded that Persons of Interest in the probe against the Ministry of Youth Affairs must appear in person in front of the commission by Wednesday, 29th May. And on Wednesday, all those who are Persons of Interest in the case failed to show up. These include former Ministers of Youth Affairs, Bai Mahmoud Bangura and Alimamy Kamara, and project managers of the Youth in Fisheries, Youth in Farming, Youth in Drainage, Youth Village and Youth Farm.
Three current Members of Parliament also failed to appear, even though their names were mentioned in relation to the issues under investigations. The three MPs are Hon. Kemokoh Conteh, Hon. Abdulai Karim Kamara and Hon. Amadu Kanu.
Lawyer Ady Macauley and Lawyer Ibrahim Mansaray are the legal representatives of former Ministers of Youth Affairs, Alimamy Kamara and Bai Mahmoud Bangura, respectively. The two defence counsels said their clients couldn’t appear because there was a critical issue in front of the Supreme Court regarding the jurisdiction of the entire Commission of Inquiry, and that their appearance might affect the outcome of the Supreme Court hearing.
Lawyer Mansaray further stated that even in extreme circumstances, the commission cannot force their clients to come to the commission because they are not witnesses. Enraged by this comment, Justice Biobele said, “I have no power in this country but the law I am working with has the power. And if a person doesn’t respect me he must respect the laws of the country.”
In Justice Biobele’s ruling on Thursday, he rolled back on those comments and said he respected the right of persons of interest not to appear.
“I have on countless occasions reiterated that since the proceedings before the Commissions are not criminal procedure there would be no need to compel any person of interest to appear personally before the commission and I intend, having carefully considered the submissions of Counsels on this issue, to remain consistent with my view earlier expressed on this issue,” he said.
The judge went on to explain that his decision not to demand the physical appearance of the persons of interest was informed by section 148 of Sierra Leone’s 1991 Constitution and Section 7 of the Constitutional Instrument No. 64 of 2018.
As a result of this decision, persons of interest will not be in court to testify first hand on evidence affecting them. But Justice Biobele said both the State Counsel and the Defence Counsel should prepare to submit their final written addresses to each other in the next one month.
“In the result and in the interest of justice, Counsel to the Persons of Interest within the remit of constitutional instrument 64 of 2018 in the investigations in to the activities of the Ministry of Youth Affairs from 2007-2018, having elected not to personally appear to give evidence so far led by the State, are hereby granted 14 days from today, the 30th day of May within which to file and serve their final written addresses on the counsel for the State. Upon service, the counsel for the State shall have 14 days to file and serve their final written address on the counsel for the Persons of Interest,” he declared.
The matter was adjourned to the 1st of July, when Justice Biobele will decide on the submissions that the State and the Defence will present to him.
© 2019 Politico Online
