Journalist testifies in Sheriff Minteh trial

Musa Ndow, a staff reporter at the Daily Observer newspaper, yesterday testified as a defense witness in the trial of Dodou Janneh (alias Dodou Boy) who has been standing trial on murder charges since last year.

In his evidence-in-chief before Senior Magistrate Kumba Sillah-Camara of the Bundung Magistrates Court, Mr Ndow told the court that he heard of the news of the Sheriff Minteh’s death while he was going to work on 10th May, 2007. He said he was on the Serrekunda market road to join a Bakau vehicle when he met a crowd of people around the Serekunda Police Station. He said he asked the bystanders what had happened and was told that someone had died the previous night whilst the police were on raid.

He added that he then asked about the whereabouts of the body, and was told that the body was at the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital (RVTH) mortuary in Banjul.

Ndow further told the court that he quickly went to the Daily Observer before proceeding to the mortuary.

He said upon his arrival at the mortuary, he met a lot of people gathered there and was told that a doctor was carrying out a post mortem on the corpse.
When asked how he obtained the second part of his story which was based on a press release issued by the office of the IGP, and which he was instructed to read before the court by one of the defence counsel, he said after he had made some efforts to establish the fact that Minteh was dead, they obtained a press release from the Office of the Inspector General of Police, which was added to the information he had gathered.

When the prosecutor asked him how the press release reached the Daily Observer office, he replied that he did not know whether it arrived by plane, vehicle or whatsoever. Asked how he saw the press release, he replied “I saw it as a release and nothing but a release”.
At that juncture, the presiding magistrate adjourned the case to September 1st,  for further hearing.
Inspector Saine represented the IGP in the trial.