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Momodou
Denmark
11835 Posts |
 Posted - 11 Apr 2007 : 22:05:52
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TREASON TRIAL
ANOTHER INDEPENDENT WITNESS APPEARS IN VOIR DIRE
By Bubacarr K. Sowe
Babou Loum, on Wednesday, April 4th became the second independent witness to appear in the voir dire (trial within a trial) at the treason trial of the civilian suspects in the March 2006 foiled coup plot. The case being heard at the High Court in Banjul went to a voir dire to test the voluntariness of the statements made by the accused persons while under custody.
Testifying before Justice Yeboah, Mr. Loum, a video operator, said on the 6th of April 2006, he was in Barra, when Sergeant Ndure called him to say that he was needed at the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) headquarters to serve as an independent witness when a cautionary statement was being obtained from the fifth accused person, Tamsir Jasseh.
He said upon arrival at the NIA he introduced himself as the one who was called by Sgt. Ndure. He said he was then escorted to where Sgt. Ndure was and Sgt Ndure introduced him to a Police detective called Lamin Cham.
According to Loum, detective Cham also introduced him to Jasseh as the independent witness which he said Jasseh agreed to.
He narrated that Cham told Jasseh that he is to write down all he knew in connection to the alleged coup plot. He added that Jasseh wrote it to his satisfaction after which both of them signed the cautionary statement.
Loum told the court that he was called on March 28th, 2006, by the same Sgt. Ndure to be an independent witness when a statement is being obtained from Alieu Jobe and Omar Faal Keita, the sixth and seventh accused persons respectively. He added that he was introduced to Keita as an independent witness and Cham cautioned Keita that he is free to state all he knew about the coup plot.
Loum said that Keita dictated his statement in a local language while Cham wrote it in English. He said that it was read over to the accused person in the language he claimed to have understood to his satisfaction after which both of them signed it.
On the 2nd of April 2006, he said, he was again called by Sgt. Ndure to be an independent witness when an additional statement was obtained from Keita.
Testifying further, Loum said on the 30th of March 2006, he also witnessed it when a statement was being obtained from the eighth accused person, Demba Dem at the NIA. There, he said, detective Cham informed the accused person that he was free to state what he knows about the abortive coup. He added that it was read to Dem to his satisfaction and both of them signed the cautionary statement.
He went on to say that on the 19th of April 2006, he was at the State Central Prisons in Mile 2 so as to witness the voluntary statements from the accused persons. He attested that he witnessed the taking of all the statements in the presence of detective Lamin Cham, Boto Keita and Abdoulie Sowe plus the suspects themselves.
Loum also said he could recognise and identify the fifth, seventh and eighth accused persons, Tamsir Jasseh, Omar Faal Keita and Demba Dem respectively.
Source: Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issue
Issue No. 41/2007, 11 - 12 April, 2007
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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