 |
| Abdulhamid Adiamoh |
Principal Magistrate Taiwo Ade Alagbe, presiding,
sentenced him to a find of D100, 000 (over $3300) in
default to serve 6 months in prison.
Mr. Adiamoh’s indictment by the court, his
arrest and subsequent detention and conviction is in connection with an
opinion article "Counsel sidesteps issues in cross-examination of
vice chancellor of the University of The Gambia] Professor Kah,"
in which he criticized a defense lawyer, Badou S.M. Conteh, in the criminal trial
of Dr. Gumbo Ali Touray, a former lecturer at the University.
Before the June 28, 2012 sentencing, Mr. Adiamoh said he “sincerely regret the publication of the article” when asked by the Court to explain why he should not be charged with contempt of court.
“It was not intended to prejudice the court or be
disrespectful to the authority of the court,” the managing editor of the
privately-owned Today Newspaper said. “I was just trying to do my job as a
journalist.”
Judge Alagbe, who took five minutes to decide on his ruling,
said Mr. Adiamoh’s action was well calculated to discredit the court and the
defence counsel.
Mr. Adiamoh intended to ridicule and undermined the court
and its officials and therefore, I found him guilty as charged and convict him
accordingly, Alagbe ruled.
Mr. Adiamoh’s counsel had before the sentencing, pleaded
with the court to tamper justice with mercy. Lawyer Uzoma said the convict is a
professional young man and a responsible person whose service is needed in the
society.
He is married and have children too, he added, before urging
the Court to caution and discharge the convict.
“Taking into consideration the defence plea of mitigation, I
hereby sentence Mr. Adiamoh to a fine of D100, 000 in default to serve 6 months
imprisonment,” Alagbe said.
Nonetheless, Mr. Adiamoh was able to go home as he meets the
cost of fine.
Following his arrest on June 20, Mr Adiamoh spend one
week in detention, prompting the United States-based Committee to ProtectJournalists (CPJ) call for his immediate release as he was being detained
beyond the legal limit of 72 hours without charge.
"Journalists should be allowed to shine a light on
court proceedings without fearing that their coverage will land them behind
bars," CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator, Mohamed Keita in New York said on
June 25, 2012. "Authorities should release Abdulhamid Adiamoh immediately." Source: The Voice
Modou S. Joof contributed to this story
Follow on Facebook: The-North-Bank-Evening-Standard
Good piece Mr. joof. This was an instrumental story.
ReplyDelete