The erstwhile Minister of Internal Affairs under the All People’s Congress led government Alfred Palo Conteh yesterday appeared before Justices Ivan Sesay, Tonia Barnet and Bintu Alhadi to listen to his appeal before them. The former minister is appealing his two year sentence after being found guilty of unlawful possession of firearms by Justice Momoh Jah Stevens over three months ago at the High Court of Freetown.
The respondent lawyer Joseph A.K. Sesay in court made a jurisdictional objection to the merit of the case. He noted that on 12th July they filed two notices of appeal; criminal appeal 5-6 separately appealing against Palo’s conviction and sentence.
He said in filing the notice of appeal, the appellant failed to comply with Section 57 paragraph C of Court Act 1965 No.31, noting that leave was not granted by the court or certificate by the lower court.
He noted that the sentence appeal is not fixed by law but rather by discretion, adding that because they are appealing against the discretion of a trial judge, “it must be done with the leave of the court, and therefore both sentences cannot be appealed against as of right.”
In his response, the lead appellant lawyer Joseph F. Kamara said the construct of fix-by-law means that the provision provides that a trial judge cannot go above or below the range provided by law, adding that in this scenario he went for the maximum provided by law.
Lawyer Kamara said Section 57–C is misconceived, noting that such is not a jurisdictional objection but a procedural one. He said the discretion should not be the only ground of objection, as there is discretion it implies that the alternative cannot be deemed to be fixed.
The matter was adjourned to 1st December 2020 by Presiding Justice Ivan Sesay, while the appellant Alfred Palo Conteh was again taken to custody.
By Mohamed J. Bah