By Politico staff writer
A 24-year-old commercial bike rider Mohamed Kamara aka Pupa who was standing trial at the Pademba Road Freetown Magistrate Court for offences of conspiracy to commit robbery with aggravation was last week freed by Justice Augustine K Musa. The acquittal of Kamara was part of the review of cases throughout the week in prisons across the country that was initiated by the Judiciary of Sierra Leone that saw the decongestion of the Correctional centres.
Kamara was accused of robbing in March 2021 a woman Martha Gborie of seven pairs of shoes and wristwatches all valued at twenty-five million six hundred and fifty thousand Leones (25,650,000,00), believed to belong to one Tamba Gborie. The accused was said to have used a gun and machete during the alleged robbery that happened in Freetown. A twelve-man jury had earlier returned a not guilty verdict in the matter before the judicial review of cases. But Kamara had remained in prison until this latest endorsement of his freedom by Justice Musa.
In reacting to his release Kamara thanked God and the Chief Justice for making sure that justice was served accordingly.
"I never believed that my freedom would happen anytime soon considering the penalty which hanged above my head for the allegations. But God has vindicated me through the intervention of the Chief Justice," the young man stated.
He said he was at a loss where to start again in life and also voiced the need for some form of compensation for people in situations similar to his.
In another matter before the court 20-year-old Apprentice, Hassan Junior Sesay was cautioned and discharged by Justice Musa also after the robbery with aggravation and robbery with violence charges were dismissed.
On the 2nd May 2021 at Waterloo in the Western Area of Freetown, allegedly Sesay robbed Ibrahim Kargbo of a driver's license and one Samsung Mobile Phone and cash all to the total value of one million seven hundred and fifty thousand Leones.
Justice Musa said considering the fact the accused had changed his plea, he hadn’t wasted the court's time, and that in view of the number of years he had already spent in prison, coupled with the Defence Counsel’s mitigation plea, he had decided to let Sesay go. By the defence Counsel, "I am of the view that the accused had been reformed for the better which is a cardinal principle in our justice system," the Judge said.
Copyright © 2022 Politico 07/02/22
