Mr Lamin Camara told the court presided over by Justice Simon Abi that the prosecution had failed to lay a prima facie case against Mr Badjie, who is facing a four-count charge of economic crime and negligence.
Mr Camara reminded the court that on count one, the accused is charged with wilfully neglecting to perform his duty which caused a 27, 500 euros loss to the country while he was The Gambia’s ambassador to Paris. “I submit that all the witnesses have testified to what they knew about the case but none of the witnesses ascribed any construability of the accused person in respect of the charges against him”, he said. He stated count two alleges that the accused caused economic loss of D34, 333, 00 euros to the Gambian government through Faisal Bojang who was a financial attaché at the embassy. Camara noted that on count three and four, the accused is said to have been negligent after he failed to follow up the balance being the monies paid without authorisation to Faisal Bojang.
He added: “The consistent evidence before this court is that the accused person has no obligation under the FSR and that Faisal Bojang was answerable to deputy head of mission and therefore it is my submission that the prosecution has woefully failed to demonstrate it is the responsibility of the accused to make sure that none of this happened.
“The witness testified copiously that the culprit Faisal Bojang is not answerable to the accused person and the responsibility of the accused which is different from the deputy head of mission. If these conditions are anything to go by, I submit to enjoin the court to hold that the prosecution has failed woefully to prove a prima facie case against the accused and we enjoin the court to uphold the no-case-to-answer-submission.”
The case continues today with the state expected to make its reply to the defence submission.
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