Journalist Fabakary Ceesay testifies, says he was assaulted

He stated that he was attacked and assaulted on the 14th September, 2022, along Seyerr Jobe Avenue at night around 11 p.m. He revealed that while he was driving his car, Demba Jobe and Alieu Ceesay came at the driver’s seat and asked him for a lift to Westfield, which he refused. He heard a bang on his car when the traffic was jammed.

“When I checked the passenger seat, I saw another man trying to get my bag from the passenger seat. Demba Jobe, who was hitting the car, told me that I knocked him with my car. He forcefully pulled my silver necklace from my neck. This was the time when I pulled up the car and alighted from the vehicle,” he asserted.

He further posited that he saw three men who attacked him.  During the scuffle, he revealed, Demba Jobe slapped him heavily. He further posited that he exchanged blows with Demba Jobe.  He went on to say that he was hit with a hard object on his head. He stated that that was the time when he realised his life was in danger. “I retreated to my car and took a cutlass from the vehicle and confronted them and started wielding the cutlass to scare them. I was then hit twice from behind. I then fell down and they started shouting, ‘Thief! Thief!’ giving the impression that I was a thief.  Some people started beating me while I was on the ground. I managed to get hold of Demba Jobe firmly and told him that I will not let him go even if I was going to die,” he testified.

He posited that some PIU officers arrived and took him and Demba Jobe in their custody. He narrated that the PIU officers took them in a pick-up near a tree and questioned them. He adduced that when the PIU officers checked his documents they realised that he was the victim. He revealed that they drove them to the Serrekunda Police Station where they were also questioned. “While we were being questioned, Alieu Ceesay came and told me that I was lucky that I was not killed. One of the police officers heard him and arrested him,” he explained.

He said further that he lost his silver bangle and necklace.

It was alleged that Demba Jobe and Alieu Ceesay on the 14th September, 2022, at Serrekunda, in the Kanifing Municipality of the Republic of The Gambia, they, with intent to commit felony, deepened their hands into the motor vehicle of Fabakary Ceesay with registration number BJL 6826N, therein to wit stealing.

Prosecutors also alleged that they willfully and unlawfully broke a silver necklace valued at D7,425 and a bangle valued at D1,800, the property of Fabakary Ceesay.

According to the charge sheet, they willfully and unlawfully assaulted Fabakary Ceesay by beating him all over his body, causing him actual bodily harm.

They denied the allegations.

Prosecutor Nuha Bojang represented the IGP.