Magistrate to rule on Oley Sey trial

Senior Magistrate Lamin George of the Banjul Magistrates Court will tomorrow, September 23rd, rule on the no case submission made by Lamin Camara, counsel for two accused persons,Oley Sey and Abdourahman Bah, coordinator of the James Junkung Jammeh Nursery School in Abuko.

This development comes after the prosecution officer, Inspector Keita, informed the court that the prosecution had closed their case in the matter and the presiding magistrate urged the defence to either open their case or file a no case submission.The defence counsel, Lamin Camara, took the second option and filed in a no-case-to-answer submission for his clients.

The defence counsel did not hesitate to ask the court to discharge and acquit his clients due to what he called lack of evidence against his clients, thus the need to set them free.
 
According to Lawyer Camara, the prosecution did not prove their case against the accused persons.”My lord,  it’s my humble submission that the court discharge and acquit the accused persons.The prosecution has failed to prove their case against my client. The court cannot convict the accused persons on the evidence adduced before the court.Therefore, I urge the court to discharge and acquit the accused persons,” he said.

The defence counsel back up his submissions with extensive reference to various sections in the Criminal Code, Criminal procedure Code (CPC),the 1997 Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia and other celebrated legal authorities in The Gambia and beyond.

Inspector Keita, the police prosecution officer for the case, strongly countered the submission  of the defence. According to him, the prosecution had proven their case against the two accused persons. He also backed up his submission with references to the aforementioned law books and legal authorities.

After the submission and counter-submissions, the presiding magistrate adjourned the case to September 23rd for ruling on the matter.