By Saio Marrah
The second witness for the prosecution in the on-going treason trial of Amadu Koita Makalo and 11 others has told the High Court that when they searched the compound of 8th accused Bai Mahmoud Bangura, they found military fatigue in his guard post
Ahmed Tejan Salif, a superintendent at Hill Top Police Station, said this on Monday 12th February 2024. He said on the 29th of November last year, he was on duty at the station when he received information from Assistant Inspector General of Police, Sylvester Koroma, to the effect that he would be sending his men to join him to search Mohamed Jalloh, the second accused, who was alleged to be part of the failed coup.
The witness said he was further informed that the second accused should be residing at Balma Rest, Off Sugar Loaf, Regent Village, from 10:30 to 11:00 pm.
According to him he led the team of officers to that location where he met the 2nd accused and asked him to lead them into the premises of Bai Mahmoud Bangura, a former government minister.
The witness said when they entered he introduced himself to Mr. Bangura and informed him that there were some military personnel hiding in his house.
The court was told of how Mr. Bangura cooperated with them to search his house but that they found nothing of “police interest there except at the guard post, where Jalloh was”. He said they discovered seven sets of military uniform with two military caps, one military bag, one camp bed, a military desert boot, two black communication sets, a military hat, and one voter ID card bearing the name of the second accused, Mohamed Jalloh. The witness added that they then called Bai Mahmoud Bangura to the scene and then asked the 2nd accused about the ownership of the military items. Superintendent Salif said the 2nd accused told him they belonged to his brother, Sillah, who worked at Wilberforce. The witness Jalloh denied being a soldier but then burst into tears.
According to the police superintendent, the 8th accused; Bai Mahmoud Bangura, told the security team that the 2nd accused was on duty on Sunday and was part of a team of officers that repelled the assailants. “We had no option then but to arrest both of them and escort them to CID for further investigation.”
The first prosecution witness, a line manager of the Foreign Nationals Unit of the headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Department also told Justice Komba Kamanda on Monday 12 February 2024, that Amadu Koita Makalo was arrested in a kitchen cabinet at the home of the 5th accused, Alima Bangura.
Freitznun Joshua Moosa said he was on duty at the CID in Freetown on the 4th of December last year when they received intelligence about assailants hiding in the premises of the 5th accused, Alima Bangura, a police officer attached to the CID.
He said a joint team comprising police and military personnel proceeded to the residence at Sumaila Town in Freetown between 18:00 to 19:00 hours and that on reaching the house they cordoned the entire compound. He said: “Since I personally knew her, I shouted her name to open the door. I did that several times, but she didn’t open the door”. The witness added: “While within the compound trying to strategize how to gain access to the house, the lights went off in the apartment. That suggested she was keeping something there.”
According to the witness, after he opened the gate leading to the veranda of the 5th accused’s premises and tried to open the door it was locked so one of the widows close to the door was opened. “A Member of the team passed his hand through the window and opened the door before we gained access inside the house.
The witness told the court: “We found 5th accused Alima Bangura in the room with her two kids. While I was interrogating her, I heard one of my team members (a Soldier) shouting that there was someone at the kitchen cabinet. The soldier pulled the person from the cabinet”.
The court also heard from the witness that he tried to interrogate the first accused Amadu Koita Makalo, but he didn’t say a word and that eventually, another soldier entered the house and identified him as Amadu Koita Makalo when he shouted “Koita nar you betray we?
At that point “I also questioned him to confirm whether he was Amadu Koita Makalo, but he didn’t talk. The first military officer also brought out a mobile phone, which he said got from the kitchen cabinet. That phone belongs to Koita.
The witness said he then cautioned the two accused (Amadu Koita and Alima Bangura) and told them that they were under arrest in connection with the then ongoing investigation into the November 26th failed coup before they were taken to the CID headquarters for further investigation.
Under cross-examination by Lawyer A. Conteh representing the first accused, the witness said he didn’t have a warrant of arrest and search warrant because the law provided for that in such circumstances. The witness, who said he was one of the three heads of the team that executed the operation, denied allegations that Koita was mercilessly beaten up by the team but admitted that when Koita was presented to CID, there was pictorial evidence of Koita having several bodily wounds.
Answering questions from lawyer M.J. Kamara, the witness said he gets electricity supply from the national grid and that power normally goes off abruptly. The witness said the window through which the door to the house was opened is about a foot and a half from the door.
Amadu Koita Makalo and Alima Bangura are among 10 other accused persons indicted for treason, misprision of treason, harboring, and unlawful wearing of military uniform and among other related offences as they attempted to overthrow the government of President Julius Maada Bio on November 26, 2023.
The trial resumes today 14th February, 2024.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (14/02/24)
