The state prosecutor, Abdul Yusuf and lawyer representing the accused persons, S Gaye will also address the court for fifteen minutes each. It is expected that the judge will set a judgment date after adopting the briefs
Alhagie Jobe is standing trial on a five-count charge of making an act with seditious intention, seditious publication, and possession of seditious publication, giving false information to a public servant, and reckless and negligent act at the special criminal division in Banjul. He is accused of publishing a seditious publication on a purported Daily Observer newspaper of 19th December 2012 to wit: that “Major Lamin Touray is on the run for imminent re-arrest and detention and charged in absentia for breach of office ethics and codes, by refusing to take orders in the execution of some people”.
Jobe’s co-accused, Mbye Bittaye is facing a single count of preparing to commit an act with seditious intention. He is said to have called Assan Sallah of Observer Company and asked him to publish a story on the Daily Observer newspaper for Samba Njie who is seeking asylum in the United Kingdom. The two men denied any wrongdoing.
Mr Jobe’s lawyer had claimed that his client was tortured, pressuring the court into a trial within a trial before proceeding with the main trial.
Jobe’s torture allegation prior to making his statements before a panel of investigators at the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) was dismissed. Jobe’s lawyers have made several attempts to secure his release from state custody since his arrest on February 7, 2013 without success.
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