By: Ilyasa Baa
The sentence of rapper Alhaji Amadu Bah aka Laj to nine years imprisonment has been described by the Director of Communications of the Judiciary Elkass Sannoh as being lenient noting that the entire trial has nothing to do with politics.
Elkas Sannoh said the learned Judge being human dispensed justice with some amount of mercy considering the punishment levied for being found guilty on four count charges of robbery with aggravation.” The minimal sentence the prosecution asked for was ten years for every one of the four counts”, he said, adding he has not seen anyone given a nine years sentence except Laj, noting that the court recently sent someone for over fifty years for the same crime.
He stressed that the rapper had a fair trial with sufficient legal representation from Magistrate to High Court till it was concluded last Friday when the sentence was released much to the surprise of his fans and members of the public.
It could be recalled that in his plea mitigation, Laj said he was sorry for what he did at the fuel station that he took full responsibility and he was sorry for his action. He asked that mercy be shown to him for the sake of his three kids. He promised Justice Fisher that he would be a changed man and serve as peace ambassador if allowed to be a free man like he was before.
The Prosecution had pressed on the Judge to give the rapper a heavier sentence to serve as a deterrent so that no public figure takes the law into his or her hands.
Laj was arrested following a fight with fuel attendants in Freetown and was denied bail because he was a flight risk till the end of the matter. The public is waiting to see how his case will be handled when taken to the Court of Appeals subsequently.
The controversial rapper is believed to have created more enemies than friends here since his deportation from the United States of America.