By: Audrey Raymonda John
Corporal Siao Reads Statements of Accused Persons Corporal David Siao read the statements of the first accused, Major Patrick Ordende Sesay, and two others on Thursday, November 21, 2024.
He read their statements before the judge advocate, Mark Ngegba, and seven board members.
In his testimony, Corporal David Siao said he is deployed as an investigator at the special investigations joint unit.
He said that as an investigator, he is charged with the responsibility of investigating cases of RSLAF and its personnel, obtaining statements, and visiting crime scenes, among other things.
Witness Siao recognized the first accused, Major Patrick Ordende Sesay, and other accused persons save the four accused.
He recalled on 11 June 2024, adding that he was at his office when he was assigned to obtain a statement from the first accused, Major Patrick Ordende Sesay.
He said the accused was cautioned and asked questions according to the judges’ rules, and he was asked to get his lawyer present during the investigation.
Corporal Siao recognized the statements he obtained from the first accused, Major Patrick Ordende Sesay, which he signed and dated. The statements were tender and marked as exhibit JJ1-17.
While reading the statements of Major Patrick Ordende Sesay, he said after the allegations were put to him, he was not guilty of the allegations.
He said Major Patrick, while obtaining statements from him, said he was arrested in 2023 for subvention, detained at the RSLAF custody, and later transferred to Pademba Road Prison.
The witness further read that Major Patrick, in his statement, said on 26 November, he was in prison when he heard gunshots sound around New England and later heard it at the Pademba Road Prison, and the officers were afraid lying down.
The witness further said Major Patrick, in his statement, said during the firing, their cells were still locked, but later heard the lock of the prison cell broken. after their cell was broken, he saw men wearing masks, and they asked who owned a hanging combat, and he admitted that he owned it.
Major Patrick, in his statement, said one of the unknown men slapped him, and they said they would take him along and he would be a stand-by for them.
He said they took him to a white vehicle, where he met other men. They placed him inside the vehicle and moved towards Eastern in a conveyor.
The witness further read that Major Patrick, in his statement, said the assailants asked him to put his head down so that he would not know the direction they were going.
Accused Patrick further that later, there was cross-firing between their vehicle and the other men, and during that time, he escaped. When he looked, he saw him at Jui, and he ran away, afraid to be identified.
Major Patrick further stated that while he was going, he met an unknown woman who asked him where he was going. He explained to her that he had been released from prison. The woman gave him clothes, a bag, and a weapon to wear. They both left on a bike. They went down the wharf at Wellington, where the woman helped him board a boat to take him to Guinea.
Major Patrick Ordende Sesay, in his statement, further stated that upon arrival at Conacky, he removed his woman’s cloth and weaved and acted like a fisherman.
He further said that he was given a place. Later, he looked into the bag given to him by the woman and saw one million old Leones. He changed it to Guinea Fran, and he tried using the said money to go to Senegal.
Major Patrick, in his statement, further stated that he was the fourth accused Zainab Suwu at the Guinea Embassy, where they decided to rent an apartment and stay together.
Major Patrick further that they were trying to travel to South America when one morning, they heard a knock on their door by Guinean soldiers, and they were arrested and detained at the Guinea police station.
He said the Guinean soldiers told them that they were declared wanted by the Sierra Leonean police base on the November 26 coup.
He said he and four others were taken to the border, and they were handed over to the Sierra Leone Police after being cautioned by the Guinean soldiers for not being tortured.
He said they were brought to 11 battalions at Kambia and later transferred to Freetown.
The witness, Corporal David Siao, also read the caution statement of the second accused, Kabba, who said that while he was detained at Pademba Road prison, he believed it was safe for him because of the military personnel that were attached there.
Kabba, in his statement, further stated that in the early hours of November 26, 2023, he heard gunshot sounds but did not know the area. He later heard the door cells of the prison open, and in their cells, he was captured by the unknown men dressed in military uniform.
He said some of them wore masks, but some did not, and he even could not recognize the ones who were not wearing masks.
Kabba’s statement further states that he was taken from his cell and taken outside. There, he saw several vehicles, which, to him, looked like a convoy.
Kabba further said that he was pushed into the vehicle and saw other people in it, who were thanking God because they were free.
He said the vehicle headed towards the ferry junction, and while going to the shell, they were chased by police officers but were unable to escape. Based on that, he escaped and walked towards Waterloo.
Kabba further stated that after he had escaped, he did not use the main road but used the yard road until he reached Waterloo and went for 4 miles, where he slept on a table.
Kabba continued that the next day, he went to Kabala, and he slept there. He later went to Guinea and was sleeping in a lorry park and doing a hard job until he bought the phone.
He said he then called Major Santigie, who is in the USA. Major Santigie directed him to Major Sannoh, who took him to his house, and he stayed there for a month.
He said on 21 June, he was arrested by Guinean soldiers and was taken to one of the police stations in Guinea, and there he contacted Gonorrhea. He said when taken to Sierra Leone, he was treated.
When asked by the Military police why he did not surrender himself to the authorities, he said he was afraid for his life, and that is why he did not surrender himself to the government and the assailants- who threatened to kill him.
The witness also read the statement of the third accused, Foday Sumana.
In his statement, Accused Sumana said he did not join the Kamala group to overthrow President Bio; he was told it was a social group.
Sumana stated in his statement that between January and April 2023, Corporal Mohamed Koroma told him about the group he said he wanted to join. He was told to pay the sum of sixty thousand Leones and a passport picture to join the group, and after joining, he was told that the monthly contribution was thirty thousand Leones, and he later joined with his Africell number.
He said he was given an identification card after paying his contribution.
In his statement, Sumana said that he observed no controls in the group and deleted himself from it in April 2023.
Sumana’s statement further states that after he left the group, he was trying to travel but had no visa. He adds that on 30th July 2024, he decided to spend the weekend with his mother at Lungi when he got a call from his boss asking him to report to the office. He told him that he would board a ferry at 5:am to be there.
He said that after some minutes, he received the same call again based on the Kamala group and was told that the presidential guard would pick him up. He became afraid, boarding a boat and fleeing to Guinea.
He said on 20 June 2024, he was arrested and, on 25 June, brought to Sierra Leone.
After his testimony, defense counsels sought an adjournment to cross-examine the witness. The matter comes up on Monday, 25th November 2024, for cross-examination.