Accused testifies in copyright trial

Abdou Keita, who was charged under the Copyright Act, last Friday testified before Magistrate Tabally at the Kanifing Magistrates' Court.

The accused said he had been working with Bolongo Daala Group for many years, adding that since the establishment of the drama group, they had been producing cassettes and that he would always take a copy for his family.

"I was the treasurer of the Bolongo Daala Group," the accused told the court.

He claimed that he saw the said cassette, Babylon by Force, also known as 'Komma Silo', on television, when the group was presenting it to the President of the Republic. He added that he bought four cassettes from one Fula boy at a junction between Serrekunda Market and the hospital.

"I bought each cassette at D50, and Bolongo Daala Group was among," Mr Keita told the court.

Testifying further, he said he was on his way home, when he met with the complainants at a shop, in which people were looking at the cassette he had already bought.

"The cassettes I bought were not for sale, but for the benefit of my family," the accused continued.

"The second prosecution witness (PW2), Nima Jammeh, took the cassette from me and identified one of them as acted by their group," the witness went on.

He narrated that the first prosecution witness (PW1), Cherno Bubacarr Saidy Jallow, took the cassette, and asked him why he copied their cassette, and that, in response, he told him that he bought the said cassette for his family, as they are all artist.

Further testifying, the accused said that PW1 wanted to go with the cassette, and he insisted.

"I held PW1's shirt, and he also held my shirt by my neck and pushed me," the accused alleged.

He indicated that he was held by people, who advised him to go and report to the police.

"On my way to the police station, I met with PW1 and a police officer, and PW1 identified me to him," Keita told the court.

The accused told the court that the police informed him that an order was issued for his arrest, and at the police station the police told the complainant to sue him to court.

"On a Wednesday, whilest in a vehicle, I received a telephone call from one Sergeant Bah to report to the police station," DW1 stated, adding that, there, he was charged and brought to court.

Under cross-examination, the accused revealed that he could not distinguish between a copy and original as he is illiterate in English, and cannot even sign his name. 

Mr. Keita denied selling cassettes to people. He further refuted the allegation of profit-making from the Bolongo Daala Group cassettes.

The case was adjourned to 22 March 2011 for judgment.

According to the particulars of the offence, the accused in March 2011, along the Serrekunda Market area, willfully and for profit-making offered for sale or exhibit two produced cassettes of Bolongo Daala, a Drama Group, entitled 'Babylon by Force' "Komma Silo" without a license or authority to do so.