A prosecution witness testified yesterday before the High Court, which is presided by Justice Ebrima Jaiteh, in the case against Abdoulie Sanyang, a former Gambia Armed Forces soldier who is accused of arson, sedition, inciting violence, and interfering with court proceedings.
According to Peter Gomez, Sanyang voluntarily approached him to take part in an interview on West Coast Radio’s Coffee Time program, Ousman E. Bah, an officer with the Police Headquarters’ Special Investigations Unit, told the court. He claimed that during the interview, Sanyang acknowledged his role in the APRC bureau arson, accused the Gambian government of electoral malpractice, and characterized the PIU shooting case as covert.
According to the witness, Sanyang was arrested after a video of the interview went viral after the broadcast and underwent analysis by the Criminal Intelligence Unit.
According to PW5, when Sanyang was questioned at the police station, he allegedly admitted to investigators that he had given money to the people who committed the arson, but he did not disclose who the recipients were.
The witness also gave information about Sanyang’s state while he was being held. According to him, the accused was in good health while being held by the police, but after being moved to Mile 2 Prison, he started to have health problems.
Only the medications that were given to Sanyang at Mile 2 were listed in the inventory of his possessions, which also included his residence card, passport, Swiss ID, phone, watch, medical records, and medications. The defense did not object to the inventory document being admitted into evidence.
Sanyang’s defense counsel questioned the veracity of the witnesses’ accounts during cross-examination, pointing out that no financial documents were found to support the claimed funding of the APRC Bureau fire. Officer Bah insisted that the video of the interview and Sanyang’s statements served as the basis for his testimony.
The matter was postponed until November 17.
