The independent witness, Alieu Cham, told the court yesterday that he received about three calls, mainly from his boys who were supposed to play football on that very day, and he said he told the boys to go ahead with game and he would meet them there.
Counsel Darboe further put it to the witness that he was never acting as an independent witness at the premises of the Anti-Crime Unit. But the witness testified that he was at the Unit and he could not lie about his statement because he was under oath.
The witness further explained that on 15 September 2023 he was not at the Anti-Crime Unit for the accused, Ousainou Bojang, adding that he was there because of a white lady with “her boyfriend which I am not sure of”, witness said.
The independent witness explained that when he was called by the white lady, he drove to the Anti-Crime Unit and got in through the back gate and went and sat under a mango tree waiting.
He added that detective Ebou Sowe then approached him and told him that they had a case and he wanted him to serve as an independent witness but he, the independent witness, asked detective Sowe how he could do that because he had never done that before.
He continued that he then told Ebou Sowe that he had a mission at the unit and he also had a football match but then, he said, he proceeded with Sowe and got inside where they brought Ousainou Bojang.
He said when Ousainou got in and he recognised his face through the internet that he was the alleged shooter at the Sukuta-Jabang Traffic Lights incident, then he started complaining that he was not comfortable and that was not the reason he was at the Anti-Crime Unit.
Counsel Darboe further put it to the witness that he knew detective Ebou Sowe prior to his meeting at the Anti-Crime Unit because detective Sowe lived at a part in Sukuta where he, the independent witness, was living before moving to Salagi.
The witness responded that he had never met Sowe nor did he know him and that day was the first day he saw him.
Asked about the language detective Sowe was speaking during the cautionary statement of the accused, the witness responded that he told Sowe that he could not speak Wolof. That was why when Sowe wrote the statement, he read it out and translated it to him in Mandinka.
The witness added that he was not aware if detective Sowe was speaking English to him and the accused, Ousainou Bojang.
The case was adjourned until 26 February 2024.
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