Magistrate Mbaye on September 15 said he will deliver the verdict today putting an end to the trial after the state prosecutor, Mam Jobe and defence lawyer, Edward Singhatey adopted their written briefs last month.
Mr Sagnia was arraigned before the Banjul Magistrates Court last November on two counts of abuse of office and was granted bail in the sum of D5 million. According to state prosecutors, Mr Sagnia acted in excess of the powers of his office and issued entry clearance to Ali Chahin, a Syrian national, and Hussein Abs, a Lebanese national, without forwarding the matter to the National Intelligence Agency office for security screening in October 2013. He denied any wrong doing and maintained in his defence that he had all the powers when he was the head of the immigration Ddepartment to issue entry clearance to anybody after meeting the criteria according to the Immigration manual..
Six men have testified as state witnesses including the director of investigation unit at the National Intelligence Agency. He testified in chambers for ‘security reasons’ while the five other witnesses testified in an open courtroom.
Magistrate Mbaye is also expected to deliver judgment in the trial of Ismael Hayek, a Syrian
national. Mr Ismael is the logistics manager of Bimex Company. He is on trial for making ‘false declaration’ at the Banjul Magistrates Court.
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