By: Sainabou Sambou
The murder trial of Buba Jallow resumed at the Bundung High Court on Thursday, withNo from the beginningWhen you sawWhen you saw the lineup you know the State’s first witness testifying that he watched the accused stab Ebrima Njie before fleeing the scene.
The case was heard before Justice I. Janneh. State Counsel Tambari appeared for the prosecution with Counsels H.S. Marong and Z.K.S. Jorbateh, while Counsel F. Jammeh represented the accused.
Assan Sallah, a welder from Latrikunda German, told the court he knew both men. He said that at about 8 p.m. on 29 June, he was seated when Njie approached him. The two exchanged light-hearted remarks about their appearance. Sallah asked where Njie was going; Njie crossed the road, said he was going to see someone briefly, and would return.
According to Sallah, while they were still talking, the accused arrived, parked his vehicle, produced a knife, and stabbed Njie. “When he stabbed Ebrima, the accused ran away, leaving Ebrima bleeding and shouting,” the witness said. He added that Jallow abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot. Sallah ran home for help; people later placed the injured man in a vehicle. They stopped first at a police station, where an officer accompanied them to hospital. Njie was pronounced dead.
Sallah told the court he knew of no earlier disagreement between the two men, though he later heard they had argued that day. Residents searched for Jallow the next morning without success; they later learned police had arrested him. Sallah said he was subsequently asked to give a statement at the police station.
“I saw it with my eyes where the accused was stabbing the deceased,” he told the court.
Under cross-examination by defense counsel F. Jammeh, Sallah confirmed the date and time. He said streetlights did not light the spot where he and Njie stood, but a light stood on the opposite side of the road where Jallow had parked. He insisted the vehicle was close enough for him to identify the accused clearly despite the darkness. The entire incident, he said, unfolded within minutes of Jallow’s arrival, and the stabbing itself was very quick.
Sallah said he saw one wound on Njie’s back but could not say how many times he was stabbed. He maintained that Jallow arrived with the knife concealed and only drew it to attack. He rejected the defense suggestion that Njie had tried to pull a screwdriver from his bag to stab Jallow, and denied that the accused acted in self-defense. “I knew nothing about such an attack,” he said. He stood by his account that he saw Jallow stab Njie, an attack that led to the victim’s death.
