By Saio Marrah
Presiding Judge, Komba Kamanda at the ongoing treason trial has promised to do a summing up of the case next week after instructing the prosecution and defence lawyers to do their closing addresses on Thursday, July 18th, 2024.
Addressing the court on Monday, 15th July, he warned that by all means prosecution should roundoff on Thursday and that the defence should do theirs same day, but if they do not complete that day, it should be finished by Friday.
This will be followed by juror’s verdict.
Before the judge’s announcement, the 12th accused, Abdul Sorie Hassan Kamara testified in his defence. He reported to the court about how he was arrested by the assailants at Congo Cross on November 26th 2023.
The accused, who didn’t tell the court information about his residence, said in the early hours of the day of the incident, his boss, Alex Mahmoud Kamara, Commander of the Operations Support Division (OSD) at Lumley Police Station instructed him via a phone call to immediately report to duty.
Upon receipt of the instruction, he reportedly dressed up, took his rifle and embarked on his journey to the Lumley Police Station.
The court learnt from him how one of his colleague police officers gave him a ride on a motorbike towards Aberdeen Road Junction but were arrested along Congo Cross and disarmed of his rifle.
He went on to say that the assailants forcefully placed him into their (assailants’) vehicle and proceeded to Campbell Street and then to Pa Demba Road Correctional Centre.
He said on their way, the assailants arrested four OSD personnel at a Checkpoint close to the Main Opposition, All People’s Congress party office after a brief exchange of fire. He went on to say that when they approached PWD at Pademba Road, they saw police vehicles with OSD personnel, who the assailants also arrested and forced to join up.
The accused said after which, some of the assailants parked their vehicles at PWD and walked to the Pademba Road Prison. He said he then managed to recover his weapon from one of the vehicles where the assailants kept it.
He told the court that there was no opportunity to escape by then so he had to join them towards the front of the prison, where the assailants warned that whoever attempted to escape would be killed.
While they were still in front of the prison, he together with a female OSD colleague escaped and went into hiding around Fergusson Street. He went on to say that they saw one of their fellow police personnel at his residence not in uniform by then, who agreed to hide them in his house.
According to the accused, it was where he dressed in civil and handed his rifle to the said police officer for safekeeping. After which he reportedly returned to his barracks and reported himself to the Barracks Sergeant Major about what he went through and then went home.
He said before the following day his hand, which the assailants hit, had swollen, but that he collected his rifle from the residence of the police officer and reported for duty. At the police station, he worked for about three days before he was invited to report at OSD headquarters and then later at the Criminal Investigations Department, where he was detained and made a statement.
During cross-examination by the lead State Prosecutor, Ahmed J.M. Bockarie, part of the accused’s statement indicated he that he told investigators that he was arrested at PWD along Pademba Road. That was after he was confronted with the Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) video footage, which showed him at the front of the prison together with the assailants on the day of the incident.
The accused however denied that part of his statement arguing that he did not say so to police investigators.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (17/07/24)
