Abdoulie Tambedou was acquitted and discharged for lack of evidence against him. ‘The prosecution did not sufficiently provide enough evidence to prove without doubt that the information the accused gave to the Secretary General (Njogu Bah) was false,’ Magistrate Hillary Abeke said before discharging and acquitting him.
“Having regard to the evidence before the court in support of the charges against the accused, I hold the view that the prosecution did not prove its case against the accused person beyond reasonable doubt,” he stated.
Mr Tambedou was accused of four counts of giving false information to a public servant. He was accused of writing to the Office of the President alleging that indiscipline was meted out to him by his predecessor, Momodou Lamin Gibba, by way of making derogatory remarks towards him and GPA management with intent to make the GPA ungovernable to him, information he knew to be false.
He was further accused of telling the investigators that one Lamin Sanyang attempted to knocked him down during his visit to the terminal in July 2012. He denied any wrongdoing throughout the trial. Seven witnesses testified as prosecution witnesses while the accused testified in his defence and called no witness.
After the court announced that he was free man, an elderly man in the gallery, said to be a parent of the accused, broke into tears.
According to the magistrate, the prosecution did not challenge Mr Tambedou’s allegation that he only discussed with the then secretary general difficulties he was encountering as the managing director. He said he agreed with the defence lawyer, Lamin Camara, in his address that none of the witnesses linked Mr Tambedou to the alleged charges.
“The prosecution neither adduced evidence nor did he call any witness to discredit the accused allegation”, Magistrate Abeke noted. “The accused is therefore acquitted and discharge accordingly as no prima facie case has been made against him. “You are a free man. Go home and celebrate,” the magistrate told Mr Tambedou beckoning him to step out of the dock.
]]>
