The Magistrate of the Pademba Road Magistrate Court No. 1, Hannah Bonnie has refused bail to the deputy organising secretary of the All People’s Congress (APC), Karamoh Kabba and 22 others involved in by-election violence in Hamilton. Magistrate Bonnie said she was refusing bail for the 23 accused because of the seriousness of the offenses. The accused appeared before the Magistrate on Friday to answer to 22 counts of related offenses including Riotious Conduct, Malicious Damage, Disorderly Behavior, Wounding, Assault, Causing Grievous Bodily Harm, Public Insult and Provocation, and Abusive Language.
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It is alleged that the accused on 29 July 2019, attacked the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) parliamentary aspirant for Constituency 110 in Hamilton, ahead of the August 24 by-election. It is alleged during the attack, the accused assaulted the aspirant and about five others. Furthermore, it is alleged that the house of Fatmata Barrie valued at Le300 million was maliciously damaged. In addition, Jackson’s house (Le59 million) and Benz ML car ($17,000 USD) were allegedly damaged. During the first appearance of the accused before the Magistrate on Wednesday 7 August 2019, the lead defense counsel, Lansana Dumbuya applied for the accused to be admitted to bail. The prosecution objecting to the application for bail. The Magistrate adjourned the matter for the prosecution to complete his address in opposition to bail. Prior to the ruling on the issue of bail, the lead prosecutor, Joseph Sesay, informed the court that the complainant, Josephine Jackson was unavoidably absent. The defense was to cross-examine Jackson on Friday but since she was absent, the prosecution led-in-evidence their second witness. The witness, Sahr Samuel Ansumana, identified Karamoh Kabba, among others. He said the accused with other people identified him as a relative to the complainant. He told the Court that he was abused and manhandled by the accused. He also testified that the accused threw stones into the compound, and they furthermore burned the complainant’s car. He said they were in disarray for about two hours. The police later came to the scene and took snapshots. The defense did not also cross-examine the witness. The Magistrate denied the application for bail and adjourned the matter to 14 August 2019.
EBD/10/8/19
By Edna Browne-Dauphine
Tuesday August 13, 2019.
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