Gambian Juju Trio Appears At High Court: Black Notions Of Prayer?

23 May 2009

Osseh Aboulie Corr, Alassan Mbowe and Baboucarr Njie, who were acquitted and discharged, by the Banjul Magistrates' Court on the charges of Juju criminal activities since 25 March 2009, and are still being detained by the authorities, appeared before Justice Joseph Wowo of the Banjul High Court, on Tuesday, 19 May. Their appearance at the High Court is due to the State's appeal against the judgment of the lower court.

The leading defence counsel, Mr. Pap Cheyassin Secka, objected to the appeal by the State. He argued that the rule that the appeal was made under is un-applicable. He added that the appeal has absolutely no relevance to the matter. He said that the case is not civil but a criminal matter.

Counsel Secka cited Section 205 (E) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), which, he said, entails only the jurisdiction of the magistrates' courts and not for the higher courts. He also cited Section 2 (D) of the Motion of Appeal filed by the State, arguing that the power under that section is for the lower courts and not the higher courts.

Mr. Secka said, "This court lacks the jurisdiction to do what the motion is asking for. It even lacks the jurisdiction to entertain such matters. It is below the powers of the higher courts. The court should not stoop down to entertain this matter. This appeal was not done within the mandatory period of 30 days. The period has elapsed."

Lawyer Secka said prayer one of the motions is totally out of place, because there was a judgment and the magistrate acquitted and discharged them.

"In my 36 years on the Bar, I have never been faced with anything like this", said Secka. He urged the Court to disregard the motion of appeal by the State, due to the reasons that he has advanced.

The Director Public Prosecution (DPP), Mr. Richard N. Chenge, applied for an adjournment to enable him to reply to the respondent's argument. He said that since the respondent did their argument orally, he would prefer to reply at a later date.

Justice Wowo adjourned the matter, but emphasized that he would not entertain any adjournment on the matter again. The case was then adjourned to 4 June, for the DPP to reply.

It could be recalled that Osseh Corr, Alassan Mbowe and Baboucarr Njie, were arrested on 9 September 2008, arraigned in court on 17 October, and charged with three criminal counts, 'Attempt to acquire Juju criminal charms for malefactor', contrary to section 365 of the Criminal Code (CC), 'Offering criminal charms for reward', contrary to section 168 (A) of the criminal code and 'Conspiracy to acquire criminal charms', contrary to section 368 of the criminal code". All the three pleaded not guilty. They were remanded pending the outcome of the trial. The State called seven witnesses to prove their case against the trio. The defence team submitted a "No case", but was overruled by court, and they were asked to prove their innocence. They all gave evidence without calling any supportive witness.

On Wednesday, 25 March, 2009, after six months of legal push and pull, Principal Magistrate Edrisa F. M'bai acquitted and discharged all the three accused persons for want of evidence against them.

However, to the consternation of all those present, the trio were immediately arrested right within the court premises and whisked away in a security vehicle and taken to detention, where they are still being held.

EsinIslam.Com