Appearing before Principal Magistrate Anna O. Mendy of the Brikama Magistrates’ Court, the men: Saidou Jarju, Lamin sowe, Solomon Mendy, Zakaria Daffeh and Edrissa Jawo were slammed with a single charge of murder contrary to section 187 of the Criminal Code.
According to the charge, Saidou Jarju, Lamin sowe, Solomon Mendy, Zakaria Daffeh and Edrissa Jawo on the 8th of December, 2024, at Kitty village, in the West Coast Region (WCR) of The Gambia with malice afterthought jointly assaulted and burnt one Modou Bah of Brikama Nema which resulted to his death and hereby committed an offence.
All accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charge except Solomon, who admitted before the court that he had set the victim on fire after pouring petrol on him.
Sergeant 4422 M.J. Sallah who appeared for the IGP applied for the case to be transferred to a superior court, stating that the High Court has the mandate to deal exclusively with capital offences.
"I am applying that this case be transferred to the Special Division of the high court pursuant to section 62 of the CPC and the accused person be remanded under section 208 (A) of the CPC pending arraignment before the special criminal division," he said.
The presiding magistrate thus granted the application, ruling for the case to be transferred to the Special Criminal Court with the accused persons to be remanded.
