By Saio Marrah
The November 2023 Criminal Session of the High Court opened on Wednesday with no accused persons present in court for their cases to be assigned. All prisoners and those on remand fled the main correctional center at Pademba Road on Sunday 26th when armed men attacked the facility in what the government has now designated as an attempt to stage a coup.
Justice Nicholas Browne-Marke issued a bench warrant for all the accused persons, whose names appeared in 31 case files before the court. Among them were Alpha Sheriff Alias APC Sheriff and others.
Legal Aid Board Lawyer Cecilia Tucker told the court that her organization will not represent Alpha Sheriff and eight others indicted for operating a private security service without a license because they had private lawyers. She also informed the judge that their policy does not allow them to represent persons implicated in dealing with prohibited harmful drugs and related offences.
Among the other inmates who were not present in court were Mohamed Lamin Turay and Alimamy Fofanah who were committed to the High Court for trial for murder.
It is worth noting that some of the accused had not been served with the indictment, but the actual figure for those cases was not clear at the time of press.
According to the Chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant Peter. K. Lavahun, a total of 1,919 inmates escaped from the Male Correctional Centre in Freetown. 144 had returned. At the female correctional centre, Special Court, 294 escaped and 16 returned. It is further indicated that 155 were serving life imprisonment, while 831 were long-term convicts.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (01/12/23)
