{"id":87291,"date":"2025-10-04T19:32:23","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T19:32:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/charges-amended-against-23-youths-all-plead-not-guilty"},"modified":"2025-10-04T19:51:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T19:51:15","slug":"charges-amended-against-23-youths-all-plead-not-guilty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/charges-amended-against-23-youths-all-plead-not-guilty","title":{"rendered":"Charges Amended against 23 Youths; all Plead not Guilty"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>In the ongoing trial of 23 youths accused in relation to anti-PURA protests, the Kanifing Magistrates\u2019 Court yesterday heard a prosecution application to amend the charges against them.<\/b><\/p>\n

The case, brought by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), was originally filed under a single charge for Control of Procession. However, during proceedings, the prosecution, led by Commissioner James Manga, moved to substitute the charge with a new one comprising two counts, citing Section 218 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2025. The amended charges were filed with the court registrar prior to the hearing.<\/p>\n

The defence, represented by Counsels Lamin L.S. Camara, J. Jobarteh, K. Jallow, and F. Jallow, acknowledged receipt of the new charge and did not oppose the amendment. Magistrate Touray accordingly granted the application and ordered that the revised charges be read to the accused.<\/p>\n

Count One:<\/b> Control of Procession\u2014contrary to Section 5(5) of the Public Order Act. The particulars of the offence allege that between August 22nd and 23rd, 2025, at Kairaba Avenue, the accused \u201cwithout lawful authority conducted themselves in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace by holding a procession in a public place without a permit from the Inspector General of Police.\u201d<\/p>\n

Count Two:<\/b> Unlawful Assembly\u2014contrary to Section 63 of the Criminal Offences Act 2025. The prosecution alleges that the accused \u201cunlawfully assembled at the Public Utility Regulatory Authority (PURA) without a permit from the Inspector General of Police.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upon the charges being read, all 23 accused entered pleas of not guilty, which the court duly recorded.<\/p>\n

Following this, Commissioner Manga applied for the adoption of the evidence-in-chief of their witness in the new charges, a request that was not contested by the defence. Magistrate Touray granted the application.<\/p>\n

During cross-examination, Counsel Lamin L.S. Camara questioned Chief Inspector Alasanna E. Bah about the circumstances of the arrests. Inspector Bah confirmed that he did not personally arrest all the accused but was part of a joint operation. When pressed, Inspector Bah could not recall the exact dates and numbers of the arrests, admitting uncertainty over who specifically arrested each individual.<\/p>\n

Counsel Camara further questioned whether Inspector Bah personally knew any of the accused before the protests; the Inspector stated he did not. The defence\u2019s questioning sought to highlight gaps in the prosecution\u2019s account of the arrests and events of August 22nd and 23rd, 2025.<\/p>\n

With the allotted hearing time exhausted, Principal Magistrate Touray adjourned the case to October 9th, 2023, from 12:30 to 13:30 for the continuation of cross-examination.Below we reproduce Counsel Lamin L.S. Camara\u2019s cross-examination of the witness:<\/p>\n

Counsel Lamin L.S. Camara began the cross-examination by asking, \u201cAre you Chief Inspector Alasanna Bah or Alasanna E. Bah?\u201d<\/p>\n

Inspector Bah replied, \u201cI\u2019m Alasanna E. Bah.\u201d<\/p>\n

Counsel Camara pressed on, asking, \u201cDid you personally arrest all the accused persons?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I can\u2019t arrest them personally, but we were on an operation,\u201d Inspector Bah clarified.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho then arrested them?\u201d asked Counsel Camara.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy men and I,\u201d Inspector Bah responded<\/p>\n

Counsel Camara inquired about his prior relationship with the accused: \u201cDid you know any of the accused persons personally before the 22nd and 23rd of August 2025?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Inspector Bah stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to take you through all the accused persons one by one. Lamin Daffeh, when was he arrested?\u201d asked Counsel Camara.<\/p>\n

Inspector Bah replied, \u201cI can\u2019t ascertain the time, but he was arrested at the PURA protest on the avenue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you remember the date he was arrested?\u201d Counsel L.S Camara asked<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was on the 22nd of September.\u201d Inspector Bah replied<\/p>\n

Counsel Camara asked, \u201cHow many accused persons did you arrest on the 22nd of September?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c23 of them,\u201d the Inspector confirmed.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you remember how many people you arrested on the 23rd of September?\u201d Counsel L.S. Camara pushed<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I can\u2019t remember,\u201d Inspector Bah replied.<\/p>\n

Counsel Camara pushed further by asking, \u201cChief Inspector, is it that you can\u2019t remember how many you arrested on the 23rd or is it because it was too many or small in number?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI just cannot remember,\u201d Alasanna E. Bah maintained.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what you do know, you arrested a protester on the 23rd of September?\u201d Counsel Camara asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I don\u2019t arrest on the 23rd of September.\u201d Inspector Bah responded<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you know Lamin Sey?\u201d Counsel L.S. Camara asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know them physically one by one,\u201d Inspector Bah replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m correct to say that you\u2019re not in a position to say who arrested whom among the accused persons.\u201d Counsel L.S. Camara.<\/p>\n

With the allotted hearing time exhausted, Principal Magistrate Touray adjourned the case to October 9th, 2023, from 12:30 to 13:30 for the continuation of cross-examination.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. In the ongoing trial of 23 youths accused in relation to anti-PURA protests, the Kanifing Magistrates\u2019 Court yesterday heard a prosecution application to amend the charges against them. The case, brought by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), was originally filed under a single charge for Control of Procession. However, during proceedings, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":87290,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-87291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nCharges Amended against 23 Youths; all Plead not Guilty - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the ongoing trial of 23 youths accused in relation to anti-PURA protests, the Kanifing Magistrates\u2019 Court yesterda ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/charges-amended-against-23-youths-all-plead-not-guilty\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Charges Amended against 23 Youths; 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