BANJUL —Justice Kumba Sillah Camara of the Banjul High Court on Tuesday visited the defunct NIA Headquarters to clarify evidence in the trial of Solo Sandeng, a political activist who was allegedly tortured to death in custody.
The trial judge along with the prosecution and defense team including the former NIA Director General, Yankuba Badjie and co accused persons were received at the main entrance by the current Director General, Ousman Sowe in the presence of security officials.
The Prosecution recalled on three witnesses namely Sheikh Tijan Camara, Seedy Saidykhan, Mbemba Camara and Hassan Badjie who are employees of the Agency to clarify evidences before the court. They led the delegation to the reception where Nogoi Njie, Fatoumatta Jawara and Fatou Camara amongst others were screen.
The witnesses went further to identify the most popular torture chambers at the NIA Headquarters also known as ‘Bamba Dinka’ which was examined by the trial judge along with others.
Sheikh Tijan Saidykhan took the court to the spot where he said he saw the ladies sitting at the Bahama grass beside the car park.
“This was the place where I saw the body of the man (Solo Sandeng) lying opposite the office of the former Director General,” Sheikh Tijan said.
The witness said he was ordered to move the body lying on the floor to the waiting vehicle with the accused persons Babucarr Sallah, Tamba Massireh and Lamin Darboe while his former boss Yusupha Jammeh, Sheikh Omar Jeng and Yankuba Jallow, a driver were present. He also identified the spot where he saw the former Director General’s vehicle was fueled before leaving from the back gate.
Mbemba Camara pointed to the spot at the reception of the investigation room where he said he saw the body of Solo Sandeng lying under a ceiling fan. He identified the spot where the vehicle was parked before taking the dead body to Tanji for secret burial.
Hassan Badjie guided the court to the conference room where the interrogation took place. He showed where the panelist where seated and where the camera was placed during the investigation.
Meanwhile, the court has overruled the objections raised by the defense team to recall witnesses to locus at this stage of the trial after they have already given evidence in chief, cross examine and reexamined.
