Ousainou Bojang In court
Ousainou Bojang, accused of shooting and killing two constables of the Gambia Police Force, has concluded his evidence-in-chief. During the proceedings, Bojang presented a range of items as evidence, including a seized jacket, shoes, clothing, and a receipt for a D20,000 deposit.
Bojang, represented by Counsel Lamin J. Darboe, has now completed the questioning phase of his defense, as he seeks to clear himself of the serious charges against him.
Counsel Darboe resumed from where he had left off the previous day, requesting the prosecution (DPP) to provide the misplaced receipt for the D20,000 deposit. The DPP complied and handed over the receipt, which was promptly confirmed by Bojang. With no objections from the prosecution, Counsel Darboe applied to have the receipt for the D20,000 deposit into the Guarantee Trust Bank account of Bojang’s partner, Claudette Francis, entered into evidence. The receipt was duly admitted and marked as Exhibit.”Can you tell the court items taken from your house?” Counsel Darboe asked
Ousainou Bojang revealed that several items, including a white shoe, a black jacket, and some of his clothes soaked in his laundry bucket, were also confiscated by the police.
Counsel Lamin J. Darboe requested that the witness describe the jacket, which he identified as a black jacket with some stitching, and noted that the inside of the jacket featured camouflage.
Counsel Darboe then applied to tender the black jacket into evidence, to which there was no objection from the Director of Public Prosecution, A.M. Yusuf. The judge marked the black jacket as Exhibit D29 and admitted it into evidence.
Ousainou was then asked if he could identify the shoe if it were shown to him, and he confirmed that he could. When presented with the shoe, he identified it as the one taken from his house.
Counsel Darboe applied to tender the shoe into evidence, and with no objection from the Director of Public Prosecution A.M. Yusuf, the presiding judge, Justice, marked the shoe as Exhibit D30 and admitted it into evidence.
Regarding the other items in the bucket, Ousainou explained that his house contained a bucket with two T-shirts, black pants, and some dirty clothes. He also mentioned that his kaftan and Qcell router were taken from the house.
After completing his testimony, it was time for the Director of Public Prosecutions, A.M. Yusuf, to cross-examine him, seeking to discredit his statement.
“Mr Bojang, it’s true that when you are travelling to Jululung, you only have one of your simple phones,” DPP A.M. Yusuf asked.”I have two phones, one simple and a smartphone, but I left the smartphone in my house while going to Casamance. I thought I had the phone with me, only to recognize it wasn’t with me. Rather, I left it home,” Ousainou answered
“Is it correct that when you’re travelling you left your passport, ID card, and other documents with your sister?” A.M Yusuf asked
“Yes, when I arrived at the border, I removed money to pay for the fare, and I gave my passport, ID card, and Residential Permit to my sister, telling her that I would not spend a day where I was going,” Ousainou answered.
“How many ID cards did you have,” DPP A.M. Yusuf inquired
“I have one ID card now,” Ousainou replied
“Where is it,” DPP. A.M. Yusuf asked
“With the police,” Ousainou answered
“How many smartphones do you have,” DPP. A.M Yusuf asked
“I have one smartphone,” Ousainou replied
“So, that was your first smartphone,” DPP A.M Yusuf asked “No, I had a smartphone before, and it got spoiled, and I got another before this smartphone,” Ousainou explained