Court Rejects Prosecution’s Bid to Tender West Coast Radio Document in Ex-Military Officer’s Trial

 By: Nicholas Bass

The High Court in Banjul, presided over by Justice Ebrima Jaiteh, on Tuesday disallowed the prosecution’s attempt to tender a West Coast Radio document in the ongoing trial of former military officer Abdoulie Sanyang.

Justice Jaiteh rejected the application made by the lead State Prosecutor, Saikou Lamin Jobarteh, seeking to tender a document from Peter Pocha Gomez, the host of Coffee Time with Peter Gomez, relating to the interview he conducted with Abdoulie Sanyang on 14th August 2025 at West Coast Radio.

In his ruling, Justice Jaiteh emphasised that for a document to be admitted as evidence and marked as an exhibit, it must be tendered through its maker. He described this as a settled principle of law designed to ensure the reliability of evidence and allow the opposing party to test its authenticity through cross-examination.

The judge consequently ordered that the document in question be returned to the prosecution.

During the proceedings, the first prosecution witness (PW1), Cadet Mbye Conteh of the Serious Investigation Unit (SIU), testified that the accused, Abdoulie Sanyang, had earlier admitted before the SIU to sponsoring the burning of the APRC Bureau.

Cadet Conteh further told the court that Peter Gomez, proprietor of West Coast Radio, had confirmed through a phone conversation with Commissioner Jawara that the accused personally requested the interview. He added that Peter Gomez gave Sanyang guidelines for the interview, but the accused failed to adhere to them when he went on air.

According to Conteh, the footage of the Coffee Time interview showed Peter Gomez repeatedly attempting to guide Sanyang, but the accused disregarded the directions.

At that point, defence counsel Lamin J. Darboe objected, arguing that the witness should confine himself to facts within his personal knowledge, rather than repeating statements made by others.

However, State Prosecutor Jobarteh opposed the objection, maintaining that the witness was testifying to facts known to him as an SIU investigator.

Justice Jaiteh overruled the defence objection, allowing the witness to continue his testimony. Proceedings were later adjourned due to a technical issue with the audio recording equipment.

According to the particulars of the offence, count one alleges that in 2016, at Kanifing South, the accused wilfully participated in the planning and burning of the APRC Bureau.

Count two accuses Sanyang of making statements intended to show disrespect to judicial proceedings, including describing the court handling the State v. Ousainou Bojang case as a “clandestine court”, an act said to be calculated to undermine the authority of the judiciary.

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  By: Nicholas Bass The High Court in Banjul, presided over by Justice Ebrima Jaiteh, on Tuesday disallowed the prosecution’s attempt…
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