By: Sainabou Sambou
In a dramatic courtroom showdown, Justice Ebrima Jaiteh rejected the prosecution’s attempt to admit a written statement by journalist Peter Pocha Gomez of West Coast Radio in the criminal trial of Abdoulie Sanyang, accused of arson and interfering with judicial proceedings—the ruling was delivered in Banjul’s High Court.
The prosecution, led by Counsel L.S. Jobarteh, sought to introduce Gomez’s statement through Mbaye Conteh, a police officer from the Special Investigation Unit (SIU). Conteh testified that a panel, formed by Police Commissioner Jawara, investigated claims Sanyang made during a 2025 Coffee Time radio interview on West Coast Radio, hosted by Gomez.
The interview allegedly included admissions about the 2016 burning of the APRC bureau in Kanifing. Conteh claimed Gomez told the panel Sanyang initiated the interview and made unscripted remarks.
When Jobarteh moved to tender Gomez’s statement, Defence Counsel L.J. Darboe fiercely objected. Darboe argued the document was undisclosed to the defense, not authored by Conteh, and not addressed to the police. “This is hearsay,” Darboe challenged during cross-examination. “You didn’t speak to Peter directly.”
Justice Jaiteh agreed, citing the Evidence Act, 1994. He ruled that documents must be presented by their maker or a witness familiar with their contents, per sections 97 and 98(1). The prosecution failed to justify bypassing this requirement. Jaiteh also flagged a constitutional breach, noting that withholding the statement from the defense violated Sanyang’s fair hearing rights under section 24(3)(b) of the 1997 Constitution.
He ordered the document returned to the prosecution so that they could follow proper procedure.
Sanyang faces two charges. He was accused of arson under Section 305(a) of the Criminal Code for allegedly setting fire to the APRC bureau in 2016. The second, under Section 99(d) and (i) of the Criminal Offences Act, 2025, claims Sanyang’s radio remarks on August 14, 2025, calling courts “clandestine” and “controlled,” prejudiced ongoing proceedings in The State v. Ousainou Bojang and Amie Bojang. Sanyang pleaded not guilty to both counts.
The trial, gripping for its clash of legal principles and free speech, is adjourned to October 20, 2025, at 1 p.m.
