Hundreds of residents in Kenema city converged around the Magistrate court premises to witness a matter involving seven people including the SLPP regional secretary-general Maada Puawei Sellu who were arrested around the party premises in a riotous mood.
Heavily armed police personnel were seen all over the court area, screening people before they entered the courtroom while some were not allowed to enter the court.
The seven accused persons on Wednesday 28th November 2012 made their first and second appearance before the Acting Presiding magistrate Mohamed Alhaji Momoh-Jah Stevens.
The accused are Maada Puawie Sellu, Regional secretary-general of the main opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), Samuel Michael Sannoh, Ibrahim Sannoh, Isha Kamara, Mohamed Turay, Mohamed Conteh and Yusuf Kamara.
Four of the accused persons, including the first accused Maada Puawie Sellu, made their first appearance on Tuesday 27th November 2012 but the court requested that the remaining three accused whose names were on the charge sheet should be brought before the court.
The magistrate then returned the charge sheet to the Kenema police division for the police to put their house in order by making available the seven accused persons in court.
On Wednesday 28th, all the seven accused now appeared in court but they all pleaded not guilty to the charge against them.
They were charged with the offence of incitement, assault, carrying offensive weapon, riotous conduct, disorderly behaviour, throwing missiles and unlawful assembly.
The first and second prosecuting witnesses Bockarie Gaima and Sylvester Kamara both military personnel of the second Infantry battalion station at RTI Kenema explained that they were part of the Military Aid to Civil Power (MACP) that was put in place on the 16th November to join the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) to mann the November 17th general elections. Gaima alleged that the first accused ,Maada Sellu grabbed him on his neck while he remained in his alert position with his arms and did not do any harm to him, until he was arrested and taken to the police station.
Sylvester Kamara in his testimony, alleged that a blue kitchen knife dropped from the pocket of the first accused while putting him in the vehicle. He further said the first accused was arrested along Hangha road near Kaisamba street junction while the others were arrested along Wesley street.
Bockarie Gaima earlier said that the second to the seventh accused were arrested during the riot at the NP filling station near the Bo Kenema power Service station, while they were throwing stones at the security forces and at the same time chanting ‘no Ernest Bai Koroma, no Bio’.
Sylvester Kamara said there was tear gas all over the place while the riotious gangs were shouting.
The lead defence counsel, lawyer Abdul M. Bangura, requested for bail for the accused person on the grounds that three of the accused were granted bail at the police station and they have also appeared in court.
The matter was prosecuted by ASP Didi Lahai of the Legal and Justice Support Department of the Kenema Police Division.
Abdul M. Bangura, A.E.Aruna and S. Sowa as defence, the matter was adjourned to Thursday 29th November while they were remanded in custody until the end of the matter. The magistrate also added that the allegations against the accused by the prosecuting witnesses is serious. The magistrate also ruled that the security forces are permitted to come to court in any mood but they must be peaceful.
By Saffa Moriba
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