Alieu Barry earlier gave a marathon testimony as the second prosecution witness (PW2) in the trial at the Special Criminal Court in Banjul before Justice Emmanuel Nkea.
Justice Wowo and Lamin A.M.S. Jobarteh are being tried on a thirteen-count indictment which include abuse of office, conspiracy to defeat Justiceand interference with witnesses, offences relating to Judicial proceeding, to giving false information, which they had denied.
Responding to questions by defence counsel Uzuma, Alieu Barry told the court that the commentary on YouTube does not reflect the true meaning of the contents of the CD.
The case in which they obtained judgment in their favour was a civil case, he said, adding that the other party had already built a house on the land in question.
He said without that negotiation, the other party would have lost the house built on the land.
Barry added that during the meeting, there was no agreement with regards to the negotiation, and he was at the meeting with his nephew, and his lawyer, Mene.
He said he was not served with any process from the Court of Appeal, but the other party was represented by Lawyer Chuka, adding that the 1st accused did not force him to attend the meeting, and did not also force him to succumb to negotiation.
Responding to questions from defence counsel B.S. Touray, Alieu Barry said, “I would not have received any compensation unless I get in touch with my partner.”
He disclosed that with regards to the meeting, he was informed by his counsel, Mene, and that the meeting was in the interest of Andrew.
“The meeting was held so that I can forward the proposal to my partner. I recorded the conversation, but I did not hand over the copy of the CD to anybody and, after sometime, I handed over the copy to the NIA, and later to my lawyer,” he said.
“I have no idea as to how the conversation got into YouTube. When I heard that this conversation was on YouTube, I did not make any inquiries as to how it got on YouTube,” Barry stated.
He also said he did not know whether the basis of the meeting was how weak the appeal was, and it was mentioned at the meeting that the chance of having the appeal succeed was very slim.
When the judgment at the high court was entered in their favour, he was never approached by Andrew, neither by his lawyer for settlement, he said.
PW2 added that the lease over the suit land was agriculture, and there was no change of use for that land.
“My partner accepted the compensation of D600,000 from Jokou Jallow, and Andrew’s plot is bigger than Jokou’splot,” he said.
He added that he did not know whether the negotiation with Andrew would prejudice the case before the Court of Appeal.
The case continues on 9 September 2013.
