Jabang Alkalo said he tried to prevent trouble in his village

The 2^nd Defence Witness, Pa Ebrima Colley has said that he pleaded with the accused, Moses Richards in order to prevent trouble from taking its cause in his village.

Pa Colley was continuing his testimony on April 11, 2011 in the trial of Mr. Moses Richards, who is standing trial before the Acting Principal Magistrate Alagba of the Banjul Magistrate Court. He is charged with two counts of giving “false information” and “sedition”. Charges he denied.

Pa Colley, the Alkalo (Village Head) of Jabang in the West Coast Region, told the Court that he appealed to Moses Richards to write a letter on his behalf in order to avert a big problem at his village. 

The witness reiterated that the move followed an advice from Pa Harry Jammeh for him to do what the Sheriff had asked him to do, that is, to ask a lawyer to write a letter on his behalf.

He said Pa Harry Jammeh told him to write the letter within three days, making him to feel panic and that he then rushed to Richards’s office and informed him about his case. However, he said the accused directed him to other lawyers because he once had a problem with the Sheriff of the High Court, which reached the Minister of Justice at the time. He said the accused told him that if he writes the letter, it would not be in his favour.

Nonetheless, the Alkalo said he insisted that the accused should write the letter on his behalf because he did not know any other lawyer apart from him and he does not even have the money to pay for the services to other lawyers.

He said later on, Richards reluctantly writes the letter after asking him to narrate the whole incident.

Furthermore, Alkalo Colley said one Alieu Ceesay, working at the High Court, photocopied the document for him. At this point defence Counsel Antouman Gaye applied to tender the document for identification purposes, his application was granted by the Court, and the trial subsequently adjourned till April 14, 2011 at 10am.  Source – The Voice