By Amadou Jadama
Mariama Naba Darboe, the woman standing trial for insulting the president, yesterday denied she ever used the ‘F’ word against President Barrow.
She told the Brusubi magistrate’s court presided over by Isatou Jallow that the exact word she used was ‘stupid”, and even that was uttered in a jovial manner.
Mariama who comes from Gunjur, currently resides in Sweden where she works on high speed trains.
She told the court that on July 5, she boarded a vehicle from Tanji going to Serekunda in which there was a lady called Salimatou and when they arrived at a police checkpoint, their vehicle was flagged to stop.
“I saw that some more vehicles were stopped and when I asked why all these vehicles were not allowed to move, Salimatou said it was because the president was passing by. I then asked why is he using all the many vehicles and motorcades in the convoy and why could he not spend all that on things like the health sector or help the poor and needy. At this point, I said, ”what a stupid president”, in a jovial manner,” Mariama told the court.
She said at that point Salimatou told her not to insult the president because he is older than her. “I responded that the president could not be older than me because I am 60 years old,” the accused told the court.
The accused said she has nothing against President Barrow and in fact likes him and all what she said was said in a jovial manner.
The accused further explained that when a Traffic police officer took them to Brufut police station, it was Salimatou who in her statement, used the F word, and not her.
“I told them that I did not say the F word but they continued repeating the same F word,” the accused said.
She further told the court that after obtaining her statement, she was detained by the police and both her private and company phones were seized from her by the police
“I was unable to reach anyone from that moment. The police told me that if I have a call, they will bring the phones to me . I was later transferred to Banjulinding Anti-Crime office to meet one ASP Bobb, who told me that I should be prosecuted, Mariama Darboe told the court.
The case adjourned to today for both the prosecution and the defense to file their addresses.
