By Sainabou Sambou
Amie Bojang, the second accused in the high-profile murder trial involving the 2023 killing of two Police Intervention Unit (PIU) officers, testified on Monday before the High Court in Banjul, detailing her arrest, detention conditions, and alleged discrepancies in police statements, while vehemently denying any role in assisting her brother, Ousainou Bojang, to flee the country.
Presiding over the case was Justice Ebrima Jaiteh. Director of Public Prosecutions A.M. Yusuf represented the state, Counsel Adama Sillah appeared for Amie Bojang, and Counsel J. Jeng represented the first accused, Ousainou Bojang.
Amie Bojang faces a single charge of accessory after the fact to murder, accused of helping her brother, Ousainou, escape The Gambia following the alleged shooting of two PIU officers on September 12, 2023, at Sukuta-Jabang Traffic Lights in the West Coast Region. Ousainou faces multiple charges, including murder.
During her testimony, Amie Bojang described being arrested in the evening and taken to Banjulinding Police Station. After a court appearance, she was detained there for about 72 hours.
She told the court that police took two statements from her: one at the time of arrest and another two weeks later. Presented with the documents in court, the illiterate witness, who said she has no formal education, recognized only one by her phone number listed on it. She identified it as the initial statement taken in her presence without an independent witness. She rejected the contents of that statement, particularly an accusation that she helped Ousainou flee, and claimed she did not recognize the second document.
Amie further testified that after a week in custody, she was informed her lawyer had visited her at the Anti-Crime Unit. She and another brother, Lamin Bojang, were transferred back to Banjulinding, with Lamin later released on bail while she was moved to the Anti-Crime Unit.
At the Anti-Crime Unit, she requested to stay there due to difficulties performing prayers in other facilities. She alleged sharing a cell with male detainees during the day, being left alone at night, and being denied assistance for prayers after a station officer ordered guards not to open her cell door.
The witness said she fell ill in custody, received treatment at an army camp, and was later told she would be transferred to Mile 2 Prison. Instead, she was taken to the airport under the pretense of seeing Ousainou.
Amie Bojang claimed that after their arrests, Ousainou disappeared from view for a period and was only seen again later at Mile 2. She alleged that during court proceedings, a police officer instructed Ousainou to confess to killing the two PIU officers and disposing of the firearm in water, threatening harm to him and their family if he refused.
She also testified that police seized Ousainou’s passport and national ID card from her home in an envelope.
Maintaining her innocence, Amie Bojang stated she had never seen Ousainou with a gun or known him to be involved with any rebel group in Casamance. “I will never accept the charges against me and will maintain that position for the rest of my life,” she told the court.
The trial continues.
