By: Audrey Raymonda John
Sheku Alhassan Gibriel Turay made another appearance before Magistrate Mark Ngegba of Pademba road court No.1 in Freetown on a count of incitement contrary to Law.
According to the particulars of the offence on a date unknown between the 1st day of January to 31st December 2021 at the new City Hall Administrative building Wallace Johnson Street the western area in Freetown did make inciting statement with the intent to undermine the peace.
The charge was read and explained to the accused person AND he pleaded not guilty
Prosecution witness number one Mustapha Conteh, attached at the Major Incident Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), recalled that on 18th September 2022, he was on duty at CID Headquarters when the accused was arrested and brought in for an alleged case of incitement.
He continued that the matter was allocated to him for further investigation. He added that he and Detective Superintendent Gunda interviewed the accused person, adding that the statement was read to the accused person and he admitted it to be true and correct. The statement was produced and tendered court to form part of the court records.
The witness furthered that on the 23rd of September 2022, a request for system data analysis on one flash drive which contained video recording was sent to the Cyber Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters for analysis and report.
He told the Court that the said document has since been in the custody of the police. He then tenders the said document in court. A report of the analysis in respect of the request was sent to the Cyber Unit, adding that the file which contained the report was sent to the Law Officer’s Department for legal advice.
He said that on the 16th of October 2022, the advice from Law Officer’s Department was sent to the Major Incident Unit at CID. He also mentioned that on the 24th of November 2022, he and Detective Sergeant Lansana A. R charged the accused with the offence of incitement. Defense Counsel objected to the charge statement, noting that there was some altercation in it, whereas State Counsel objected.
Magistrate Marke Ngegba ruled that he cannot admit the objection.
During cross-examination, the defence counsel told the Bench that he cannot continue with his cross-examination without the flash drive. He requested that the witness produce the flash drive so that he will cross-examine the witness on it. But State Counsel responded that the witness cannot cross-examine the witness on something he did not tender in court.
In continuation of cross-examine, the witness told the Court that he charged the accused person with an offence he allegedly committed in 2021. He disclosed that the accused was brought in in respect of an incitement which followed the August 10th incident. The witness revealed that he extracted the video which contained the incitement from the mobile phone of AIG Brima Jah.
At this stage, State Counsel requested an adjournment date. Magistrate Marke Ngegba adjourned the matter to the 18th of January 2023. The accused person is on bail.