The National Under 23 Coach of Sierra Leone has been convicted on count two of trespass by a magistrate in Freetown. John Kiester and Daniel Abdel Konteh were charged with three counts of assault, trespass and public insult against the editor of Salone Times Newspaper Thomas Dixon.
In his ruling, magistrate Bangura of Pademba road court No. 5 acquitted and discharged the two accused persons on one count of assault, public insult and provocation because of "inconsistencies on the part of the prosecution."
The magistrate said, "after listening to the plea of the defense, I have decided to fine the two accused persons of Le250, 000 each or six months in prison and you should compensate the complainant, one million, five hundred thousand leones each."
Outside the courtroom, Dixon told his colleagues that "justice has prevailed" and that he was "satisfied with the entire proceedings despite the delay...gone are those days when an individual would take the law in his hands."
He thank relatives and friends who stood by him during the trial period "especially colleagues Journalists like Pa Alie Sesay and Alhaji Komba and some senior colleagues as well, the prosecution lawyers who played a vital role to see that justice prevailed." The convicted coach told politico that what happened is a normal court proceeding “the lawyers know much about the Public Order Act interpretation so I cannot delve into that much, I have respect for the law and the decision made against me” said Keister.
Inspector Hawa Williams was the prosecutor with lawyer Roland Nylenda associating while Alhaji Koroma was the defense lawyer.
© Politico 05/02/15
