By: Hafsatu Z Bangura
Alie Conteh made his final appearance before Justice Augustine Kailey Musa of the High Court no.2 in Freetown on one count of an Alleged Murder of Ibrahim Bundu.
Led in evidence by the Defense Counsel C. Tucker Esq from Legal Aid Board the accused Alie Conteh testifying in his defense said he was surprised when police officers told him that he had killed Ibrahim Bundu.
Further testifying in court in his defense, the accused said he lives at the Male Correctional Centre, but before the alleged incident, he was living at Success village.
He said he knew Ibrahim Bundu (now deceased) and recalled on the 4th March 2020, he said on that day, the deceased asked him to borrow him Le5, 000 now 5 Leone and he agreed to borrow the deceased the money, adding that in the morning hours when he asked the deceased for his money, the deceased rained abusive language, but kept his cool to avoid any confrontation, he narrated.
The accused said the next day, he and the deceased met at a building site digging a foundation as they were transporting the soil into one truck, the deceased threw the soil on him and when he asked the deceased why he threw the soil on him, the deceased told him that he is insane and rained insults on him.
He narrated that after some minutes, their contractor came and he reported the matter to him who later called out the deceased and told him not to do it again and separated them.
He said on the 23rd March 2020, he was with his friend (Abdul) at Sussex Junction around 2 am when he told his friends that he wants to sleep, he said they later went into one cookery shop and he slept on a bench.
He continued that while he was asleep on the bench, the deceased arrived and rained insults on him, adding that he woke up from sleep due to the insults and noise the deceased was creating made him unable to sleep further and that they both insulted each other and the deceased later went away, so he went behind a makeshift structure to urinate, but noticed that the deceased was standing behind the house.
He said after he had urinated, upon trying to return to where his friend was standing, the deceased held him from the back and threw him on the ground against the make shift structure and the deceased also struck him with a stick on his back and he fell on the ground and the deceased tripped in the event when he struck him and he also fell on the ground, but he later got up and went to the front of the makeshift structure.
The accused further said when he arrived at the front of the make shift structure some people were standing there who asked him what transpired between him and the deceased and he explained to them, he noted that the deceased later arrived with some injuries and he told the people that the accused was the one who injured him and all of them started chasing after the accused, he said.
He also said after the incident, one pastor settled them and they were at peace. He went on that after some days he was called for a job at Waterloo and he went there, but after he had finished the job, he returned to Sussex village. The accused said he was sitting at Sussex junction when some police officers arrived and alleged that he has killed the deceased but he said he was surprised.
He said after the officers had informed him about the death of the deceased, he was arrested and taken to the Adonkia police station where he spent three months before he was charged to court, adding that the officers obtained a statement from him, but they did not read nor explain the statement to him and that he was forced to sign the statement and he was not allowed to contact his relatives.
After his testimony, the accused was cross examined by State Counsel, Yusifu S. Koroma. The accused is represented by Lawyer Cecilia Tucker from the Legal Aid Board.
Meanwhile, Justice Musa remanded the accused to the male correctional centre and adjourned the matter to Friday 29th July 2020 for both counsels to address the court.
The accused is currently before the court on one count of murder contrary to Law.
It was alleged that the accused on 23rd March 2020 in Freetown murdered Ibrahim Bundu.
