By: Alieu Jallow
Ousainou Bojang, the first accused person in the September 12th Sukuta-Jabang traffic light Police shooting, has denied the police’s assertion that his statement was taken at the Police Anti-Crime Unit complex on September 15, 2023.
Ousainou’s testimony follows the High Court opening a voir dire to hear allegations of torture and drugging made by his defense counsel, Counsel J. Darboe.
The first accused person refuted Detective Ebou Sowe’s testimony, stating that his statement was not obtained in the presence of Alieu Cham, the independent witness, at the Anti-Crime in Banjulunding. He emphasized that such an action never occurred and that his statement was only taken at the Airport Police Station. He also dismissed Alieu Cham’s claim of receiving multiple calls on his phone while Mr. Sowe was taking his statement.
He further informed the court that neither of them was present when he was interrogated on September 15, 2023. Recalling the day he was brought to the Anti-Crime complex, the first accused person asserted that Ebou Sowe took him out of his cell and brought him to an office complex, where Detective Ebou Sowe presented a stack of blank papers and a stamp pad before him. The first accused person recounted that Ebou Sowe demanded his right hand, which he dipped into the stamp pad and placed on the blank papers, followed by his thumb, which he placed in a box on the papers.
“He took each of my fingers and placed them on the papers without explaining why, and then took me back to my cell,” he told the court.
The first accused person also claimed that on Thursday night, PW1 Ebou Sowe took him out of his cell to another office, where he met a PIU officer. Inside, Ebou Sowe asked him if he would like to have coffee. “If I have it, it’s fine, but if I don’t, it’s also fine,” he told the court. The first accused person lamented that Sowe took coffee from his flask bottle and served him a cup. Shortly after sipping the coffee, he started feeling drowsy and dizzy and eventually fell asleep. “The following morning, I found myself back in the cell,” he said.
He further stated that on Friday, he was taken out of his cell to a location within the Anti-Crime complex, where Superintendent Inspector Kebba Jobe, Musa Bah, and another officer threatened him to produce the gun, stating that if he didn’t speak the truth, they would suffocate him to death. According to him, they claimed to be more aggressive than the Junglers under the Jammeh regime. After some altercation, SI Jobe instructed his sergeant to handcuff both his hands and legs. He recounted that they used a baton and a cutlass to torture him.
“SI Jobe beat me with a baton while Musa Bah beat me with the back of the cutlass. After the beating, they took me back to my cell, where I fell on my two other prisoners.”
The case is set to resume on Tuesday, February 27, 2024, at 2:15 PM.
