Gambia: Court Strikes Out Drug Case Against Chief Magistrate Pa Modou Njie

The Bundung Magistrate Court presided over by Magistrate Dibba has struck out the five (5) criminal charges of drug and related matters against former Chief Magistrate and discharged the former magistrate in his ruling on lack due diligence prosecution.

Chief Magistrate Pa Modou Njie was discharged of all five criminal charges against him. The charges, which included dealing in prohibited drugs, abuse of office, removal of property under lawful seizure, fraud and breaches of trust by persons employed in the public service, and stealing by persons in public service, were struck out by Magistrate I. Dibba Esq.

The case, involved the Inspector General of Police (IGP) represented by prosecutor Inspector B. Jarju, while L.S. Camara and S. Sonko appeared for the accused, Pa Modou Njie.

The ruling came when the defence counsels applied for the court to dismiss the case for lack of diligent prosecution arguing that the case faced setback as adjourned for five consecutive times, all at the instance of the prosecution.

The Magistrate in his ruling addressed the core question of whether the matter should be struck out due to a lack of diligent prosecution. Magistrate Dibba noted that the case had been adjourned for five consecutive times, all at the instance of the prosecution, with the excuse that the file had been sent to the Ministry of Justice.

Magistrate Dibba highlighted that Section 24 of the 1997 Constitution explicitly states that any person charged before a court of law has a right to a fair trial, which includes the right to be tried within a reasonable time.

Magistrate Dibba found that the repeated adjournments without any step being taken by the prosecution constituted a breach of the accused person's right to a fair hearing.

Regarding the file being sent to the Ministry of Justice for legal opinion, Magistrate Dibba stated that from March 4th to the date of the ruling, sufficient time had passed for the opinion to be ready.

Magistrate Dibba concluded that there was no willingness on the part of the state to diligently prosecute the matter, emphasising the legal principle "interest rei publicae ut sit finis litium" - that it is in the interest of the state that there be an end to litigation.

Finally, Magistrate Dibba struck out and discharged the accused (former Magistrate Njie) on all five charges filed against him.

Read the original article on The Point.