By: Alieu Jallow
In the ongoing voir dire (preliminary trial) concerning the allegations made by defense counsel Lamin J Darboe that his client was drugged and beaten to provide a confession and voluntary statement during an investigation, Alieu Cham, on Tuesday, February 20th, informed the high court presided over by Justice Ebrima Jaiteh that he had informed Detective Ebou Sowe of the Police anti-crime unit that he couldn’t speak Wollof.
Independent witness Cham stated that Detective Ebou Sowe sometimes spoke in Wollof and Mandinka. When questioned by defense counsel Lamin J Darboe about whether Sowe was speaking exclusively in Wollof and not Mandinka, Cham affirmed that it could be possible, as he wasn’t paying much attention to that.
“You mentioned to this court that sometimes Mr. Sowe speaks Wollof and Mandinka,” asked Counsel J Darboe.
“Yes, the first day they were speaking both Mandinka and Wollof, but the second incident, they were speaking only Mandinka,” narrated independent witness Cham.
Mr. Cham further informed the court that Sowe brought the charge sheets against the first accused person, Ousainou Bojang, but he had no clue about them, and even the first accused person denies the charges. When asked why his presence at the airport police station was recorded and not on Friday, September 15th, 2023, Cham told the court that his initial presence at the police anti-crime unit was not related to this case but rather to an issue regarding a white customer to whom he had sold a car. Due to mistrust between the white lady and his partner, he was called by the white lady to meet her at the Anti-crime complex. It was only then that Detective Sowe approached him to serve as an independent witness, which, according to him, he was not comfortable with in the least.
Accordingly, Cham further told the court that he abruptly informed Sowe that he was at the complex on a separate mission and thus had little time to spend in the Saud jurisdiction.
“Did Sowe allow you to make or receive calls?” the defense counsel asked.
“Yes, I received about three calls, one of them from my boys, telling them to proceed to the football,” Cham responded.
Counsel J Darboe asserted to the witness that he knew Sowe very well and that Sowe lived in the same area with him before he relocated to Salagi. In response, Alieu Cham vehemently denied this, stressing that he never knew Ebou Sowe before and that he swore on the Quran to speak only what he knew.
The case was adjourned to February 26th when the first accused person, Ousainou Bojang, will commence his testimony in the voir dire.
