By Aminata Phidelia Allie
Prosecution at the tribunal trying 14 soldiers of the Sierra Leone military has taken in its eleventh and final witness.
Led by Gerald Soyei, the prosecution's case is now closed but it is unclear whether or not the court, presided over by Judge Advocate Otto During, would extend beyond the initial set trial period of 60 days which expires in 14 days.
Nathaniel Williams, an exhibit clerk at the Criminal Investigations Department, was allowed to testify because prosecution had applied for him to be accepted “as additional witness”. He was not on the list of witnesses, consisting of less than 10 names, which the prosecutor had served upon both the court and the defence team.
Williams told the court that he had been in possession of a document that happened to be a song manuscript, allegedly belonging to one of the accused soldiers. However, the defence team objected to the document, both in original and photocopy, forming a part of the evidence against the accused.
Defence lawyer, Ishmael Philip Mamie argued that the document lacked authenticity because his client was never given a chance to verify the truthfulness of the said document and “he was never shown the original of it”.
Instead, he said, the accused had been shown a photocopy, adding that photocopied documents could be “fashioned or forged into any document to aid the bearer’s intention”. He said it was justifiable for the accused to have been confronted with the original document instead of being confronted with the copy.
Also, he went on, the “certified true copy carries a personal stamp instead of the institutional stamp of the Sierra Leone Police”.
After a 30-minute long heated argument the Judge Advocate called the court back.
The prosecutor argued strongly as to why the documents should form part of the evidence, after which the matter was adjourned to tomorrow, August 29, for a ruling.
The 14 soldiers were arrested over a year ago at Teko Barracks in Makeni, from where they were allegedly plotting to mutiny. They deny all eight counts of conspiracy, mutiny, failure to suppress mutiny and incitement to mutiny.
They have since been in incarceration at the country’s maximum security prison.
(C) Politico 28/08/14
