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Gambia: In Manlafi's Criminal Theft Case, Defence Applies for No-Case-Submission
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The Daily Observer (Banjul)
17 June 2008
Posted to the web 17 June 2008
Ebrima Jatta
Defence counsel lawyer Lamin Camara has applied for a no-case-submission in a separate criminal trial involving Supt Manlafi Sanyang, the former head of Vehicles and Logistics Unit at State House.
Opening his defence before senior magistrate Kayode Olajubutu, Lawyer Camara said the prosecution called in four witnesses to prove the charges against the accused, but it failed to prove its case and in the "standard criteria".
He pointed out that under cross examination, the evidence of the witnesses were unreliable and inconsistent, except that of ASP Philip Jarju (the second prosecution witness). He told the court that his client cannot be convicted, as the testimonies "manifestly inconsistent".
Camara told the court that pw2 (ASP Jarju) in his testimony, said the government vehicles are registered by the Department of State for Works, using the GG character. This evidence, Camara continued, is inconsistent with that of ASP Fabureh, the head of the Licensing Department, who confirmed that he was not at the licensing office at the time the vehicle (BJL4595A) was registered in 1998.
"He has also confirmed that BJL 4591A became BJl4591B and later transferred to the Youth Development Enterprise," said, noting that ASP Fabureh "reluctantly" confirmed that as of 2001, BJL 4591A became the property of YDE (Youth Development Enterprise). He expressed surprise with the "inconsistency" of ASP Fabureh, whom according to him, was supposed to be an "expert witness".
"I therefore submit that the element of material ownership by the government of The Gambia has failed woefully, so much so that it renders the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses unbelievable and it is therefore my submission that a prima facie had not been made of the case and I urge the court to uphold a no-case-submission," defence counsel Camara urged.
At that juncture, the state prosecutor, who was represented by Buba Bojang, applied for an adjournment due to the fact he needs more time to fully exhaust the case as he was not the person who initially handled it.
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Magistrate Olajubutu then adjourned the case to June 24 to enable the prosecution respond to the no-case submission by the defence.
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