By Fatima Kpaka
Magistrate Mark Ngegba of Pademba road court No1 has on Tuesday made an order for an accused person, Alimamy Kamara, to be taken for psychiatric assessment at the Kissy Mental Home for 30 days.
Alimamy Kamara, the 18th accused person among a group of those arrested on the 10th of August 2022, amidst the riots has reportedly been mentally ill.
His lawyer M. Bangura said when he was in police custody; he personally had conference with him where he observed that he was experiencing frequent memory lost.
Defence counsel Bangura said that there is a provision in the Criminal Procedure Act 1965 which makes it clear that such a person should not be tried which he canvased.
The Defence Counsel provided the court with a medical certificate to ascertain his client’s condition and further invoked section 72 sub-section 3 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Act No 32 of 1965 for the 18th accused person to be removed from among the others and accorded the provision cited.
State prosecutor AGM Bockarie said the documents before him did not meet the threshold of section 71. He said that if he has to go direct, the document will fall flat against the above section.
State Prosecutor Bockarie urged the Bench to discountenance the document because there is no evidence from the police during investigation to ascertain that fact.
He said if at all the document has to be considered, it has to go through a twenty one day process signed by another medical doctor.
Replying to the submission of defense counsel, magistrate Mark Ngegba said by virtue of the application, he ordered for the eighteenth accused person to be taken to the psychiatric hospital at Kissy for 30 days of medical examination.
In that light, state prosecutor AGM Bockarie applied for her trial to be separated from the others until the date the court would have been furnished by the Court from the mental home.
Proceeding with 29 accused persons, the Court clerk put to them a total of 21 counts ranging from office breaking and larceny, riotous conduct, escaping from lawful custody and disorderly behavior.
After reading the charges, lead defense counsel, Joesph Fitzgerald Kamara, raised the objection of duplicity and multiplicity. He said people cannot riot orderly. He urged the Bench to ask the prosecution to elect which count they intend to proceed with citing Archibald Criminal Practice
He added that the prosecution wanted to shoot with a double barreled gun because they are not sure of what they intend to prove.
State prosecutor A.G.M. Bockarie said what the defence is trying to do is to conduct the case of the prosecution. He said at the close of the prosecution’s case the accused will elect on what they want.
Touching on the issue of double barrel shot cited by the defence, State counsel Bockarie insisted that all the offences were separate and distinct. He prayed for the objection of the defence to be discountenanced and allow for his witness to be allowed to testify.
Having listened to both sides, Magistrate Mark Ngegba overruled the objection.
Defence counsel Joesph Fitzgerald Kamara made a second bite on the argument raised by state prosecutor AGM Bockarie to back of his case that there is nowhere in section 12 of the Criminal Procedure Act that creates an offence.
Again, state prosecutor AGM Bockarie replied that Act No 15 of 1973 was the replacement of section 12.
In the interest of progress, Magistrate Mark Ngegba said section 12 creates an offense and that offense is a common law offense.
Taking the witness stand the 1st Prosecution witness Deputy Superintendent of Police, Abu Bakar Mohamed Kamara, attached at the Harbor Police Station as Operations Officer said he was among the officers that arrested the accused persons on the 10th of August 2022.
He said that before the accused persons were arrested they as police officers had been alerted in a meeting where they were informed that people intended to demonstrate and they should be on the alert.
In conclusion of his Examination-in-chief, the police witness was cross examined and the matter was adjourned to Thursday 22nd of September 2022.