By Aminata Phidelia Allie
Attorney General and Minister of Justicehas revealed that the Supreme Court of Sierra Leone, together with the office of the Chief Justice will henceforth occupy the Special Court premises on Jomo Kenyatta Road in Freetown.
Frank Kargbomade the disclosure while talking to journalists immediately after the handing-over ceremony of the courthouse to Sierra Leone yesterday, 2 December.
He said the programme, which also saw the swearing in of sixteen Residual Judges, would take care of unfinished businesses like the trial of Jonny Paul Koroma should it arise, prisoners wanting to appeal their conviction, the peace museum, amongst other issues that may arise.
The AG went on to explain that the Special Court was started in 2002 “to break impunity and the cycle of violence in Sierra Leone”, adding that it was also to show the world that “we can uphold peace, oneness.The end of the court marks the achievement of all that”.
Giving a background the UN-backed hybrid court, the registrar, Binta Mansaray,said the court came about as a result of a letter of request from then President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah to the United Nations to establish a court to try people who committed atrocities and bore the greatest responsibility during the civil war that lasted for eleven years.
Because of that letter, Mansaray recalled, the special court was established to try those that bore the greatest responsibilities “which it successfully did since its inception in early 2000”.
She said the most challenging times for the court had been “assuring the public that the court would not lead to war as most people feared would be the case”. She assured that the closing of the court did not in any way mean that all issues they dealt with were closed, adding that issues like witness protection andcases with regards to sentences would be taken care of by the court over which the Residual Judges presided.
Six of the sworn-in judges were from Sierra Leone and ten from Kenya, Uganda, Botswana, Austria, Canada, Samoa, Northern Ireland, the USA and the UK.
Theywould reside in their different countries of residence and would only meet in Sierra Leone when called upon to sit on matters that may arise.
(C) Politico 03/12/13
