By Francis H. Murray
The treason trial of former Defense minister, Alfred Paolo Conteh and two others is set to move to State House today, being the scene of the alleged of crime.
The judge, Momojah Stevens and his clerk, all the members of the jury, and three members each from both the defense and prosecution will visit the office of the president, following an application from the defense counsel.
Dr. Abdulai O. Conteh, the lead defense counsel for the first accused, Alfred Palo Conteh, had earlier argued that the visit would put the court and members of the jury in a better position to appreciate what transpired between his client and security personnel at the reception desk of State House.
The defense counsels for the three accused persons closed their cases on Tuesday, 23rd June after ending cross examination of the first accused who testified on Friday, 19th June.
Defense lawyers for the second and third accused persons had earlier told the court that they were neither calling any witness, nor letting their clients testify, adding that they relied on the statements of their clients at the CID and the evidence before the court.
During Paolo’s cross examination by Adrian J. Fisher, he told the court that he walked past the scanner and the metal detector with his brown bag containing his pistol which had ten live rounds and proceeded to the reception desk at the first floor of State House, where he willingly tendered the bag to the security personnel.
When asked whether at any point he had felt threatened physically or otherwise for which he needed a personal weapon after he left the office of Minister of Defense in 2018, Paolo said since the 2018 elections, there had never been a time he had felt threatened or faced any physical attack.
Lawyer Fisher also asked why the first accused didn’t leave the gun at home knowing that he had a meeting with the President, and he replied saying that he carried his personal weapon at all times for his safety. Paolo said, from his house at Wilberforce to State House, anything could have happened.
The witness was asked whether he felt insecure as a guest to the President at State House and he replied, saying that he felt no sense of insecurity at State House, which was why he had tendered the weapon at the reception. He stressed that between his residence and State House, anything could have happened.
The witness also agreed that he wasn’t aware of any law prohibiting the carrying of weapons at State House and that he didn’t “visibly see” any weapon at State House on the 19th of March, 2020.
When challenged that he had gone to State House prepared to carry out an enterprise to assassinate the president, he replied in the negative, adding that despite several calls from his party members and ordinary members of the public aimed at either discouraging or encouraging him, he made a personal decision to attend the meeting.
Fisher also accused Paolo that his visit to State House was precipitated by the fact that he wasn’t happy with the military officers who overthrew his uncle, Joseph Saidu Momoh, which President Bio was a part of, consequently leading to his untimely retirement from the military.
The witness responded by saying that he only went to State House because he had been invited by the President to discuss strategies in the fight against COVID19, adding that if it were not for the pandemic, he wouldn’t have been in the same room with the President.
Fisher also pointed at “discrepancies” in the witness’s statement made at the CID and his evidence before the court, for which the witness admitted to have made an error in his statement at the CID relating to the Gluck 17 pistol which was not corrected.
Paolo also denied being responsible for any wrong the administration of the Sierra Leone Small Arms Commission had done during the registration process of his Gluck 17 pistol.
Sidi Yayah Tunis, an additional witness presented by the defense, recognized the first accused (Paolo) and recalled that he had been in a room at some point with Paolo as they waited for the President on the 19th of March, 2020.
Tunis noted that after the first accused entered the room, following some minutes of chatting, Lieutenant Kposowa entered the room and called out the first accused and asked him whether he owned the brown bag containing the Gluck 17 pistol, which he admitted to and produced a valid license for.
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