By Saio Marrah
The third defence witness in the ongoing police obstruction case against Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyer has told the Principal Magistrate in Freetown that the Mayor was emotional and appeared angry on the evening in question at the Lungi Airport police station.
Lance Corporal Victor Idrissa Swaray of the RSLAF was testifying on Wednesday the 1st of March 2023, in the matter for which Mayor Aki-Sawyer is accused of obstructing the work of police on September 17th 2022, when one of her councillors, Alhassan Sheku Gibril Turay, who was supposed to travel with her to the United States of America, was detained by Police.
The witness said the emotional status of the accused led to her making a live video but said he could not hear what the accused was saying.
Led in evidence by defence Lawyer Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara, the witness said he was attached to a gate near the arrivals area of the airport and that on the evening under reference his immediate boss told him to secure an abandoned bag, which he said belonged to the accused. He said he picked up the lady’s bag and went towards the airport police station to hand it over to the owner who is now the accused.
The accused told the court that when he arrived at the station, the accused did not receive her from him and he had to spend about 30 minutes in the corridor while the accused person was inside the police station. He said while he was not fully attentive to what was happening inside the Police Station, he did not hear any palava or continuous movement by the accused person within the police station.
Under cross-examination by state lawyer, Yusif Isaac Sesay, the eight-year serving military personnel, who had served at the airport for two years, told the court that he was not the one that directed the accused person to the Police station, but merely met her there to hand over her bag to her.
Meanwhile, Lawyer Fitzgerald Kamara has applied for a subpoena to be served on the Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Dr Francis Kaikai to testify in the case, while pointing out that it was the third sitting since Kaikai was asked to testify.
The case had been adjourned to the 7th of March 2023.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (03/03/23)
