The case resumed yesterday at the court in Banjul, with state prosecutors telling the court that they had another witness they wanted to testify in camera.
“The witness had been operating undercover for decades,” said the deputy director of public prosecution, Abdul Maita (A.M.) Yusuf, who doubles as state prosecutor in the case.
Prosecutor Yusuf posited before the court that testifying openly would expose the witness, which is not in the interest of national security and personal safety.
However, Defence Counsel L.S. Camara said among other things that they had gone through the list of witnesses that had been served by the State but had not seen anyone among the listed witnesses indicated as an undercover agent. He, however, noted that only one was ‘closed’, which is witness number 6.
At this point, both parties were invited to the chambers of the presiding judge, Justice Basiru V.P. Mahoney, for some discussion over the matter at hand.
Speaking on the matter, Justice Mahoney later informed the State that they could make their application for the “undercover” agent to testify in camera on or before Wednesday, 15 March, and that the defence might respond on or before Friday, 17 March.
Meanwhile, the judge held that the state should usher in their next witness for the hearing to continue today whilst they work on the issue of the undercover agent.
Hence, the case continues today at 2 pm in Banjul.
