“Ebrima Jah had no problem in planning his escape and going into thin air. That I believe is a measure of fault,” Justice Emmanuel Amadi said. “I [have] reduced the amount to 350,000 to be paid by each of the sureties. The payment of this amount is the condition for the respondents to be released on their present bail.”
Abdoulie Jah and Ebrima Jobe appeared at the Special Criminal Division on July 3 after the director of public prosecution filed an application for the sureties to forfeit D500,000 each to the state if they cannot produce Lawyer Jah.
Both have denied in their affidavit in reply the prosecutor’s claim that they signed the bail bond on the condition of forfeiture of D500,000 in the event of a failure to produce the accused in court when needed.
They stated that the bond was limited to only the 27th day of March to enable Ebrima Jah appear before the General Legal Council at the Offices of the Chief Justice.
But according to Justice Amadi, the respondents discarded the responsibility put on them. “The respondents did nothing beyond saying the bond on 27th March 2014 was to ensure that the accused person was available to the police. That meant they abandoned the responsibility placed on them by the bond they signed.”
Mr Jah was arraigned on June 12 at the Special Criminal Division for attempting to bribe a high court judge to rule in favour of his client in a civil case. He is facing a single charge of official corruption. He is accused of offering Justice Awa Bah US$100,000 equivalent to D4,000,000 in a bid to influence her to decide the case in his favour in March 2014 while serving as counsel for the plaintiff in the suit of Multi-Steel Company against Omar Jasseh. He has never appeared in court since he was charged.
]]>
