Dr Baba Galleh Jallow has been served a summon from the High Court to submit the written statements of Ensa Mendy, a former orderly to Yankua Touray who gave his statement to the Truth Commission on July 28, 2019.
The lawyer representing Yankuba Touray, Abdoulie Sisoho, has asked the High Court to arrest the executive director of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission for his failure to honour the court summon.
Dr Jallow was summoned to appear before the High Court to submit a written statement of Ensa Mendy, a former orderly of Yankuba Touray who testified before the Commission some months ago.
Mendy said he was a former orderly to Yankuba Touray, a former Local Government minister currently standing trial for murder of Ousman Koro Ceesay. Ceesay was reportedly killed in Touray’s house.
According to Touray’s lawyer, Dr Jallow has received the summon to appear on Monday.
“Unfortunately, he (Dr Baba Galleh Jallow) is not here and has not informed the court about his absence… A summon is a command. And failure to obey the command of law, the court has a duty to act,” said Sisoho.
“And I urged this court to issue a bench warrant for the arrest of Dr Baba Galleh Jallow, the executive secretary of the TRRC. To appear before this court to show cause why he failed to appear. There is a court order.”
Sisoho said Dr Jallow is only required to submit the written statement of Ensa Mendy.
However, the state prosecutor Mr Yusuf disagreed with Sisoho on procedure. Yusuf said the court should focus on the witness who is currently before it.
“Before any witness comes, this witness (Ensa Mendy) ought to be dispensed with…,” said Yusuf. The court rules on the argument over the summoning of Dr Jallow on November 11.
Meanwhile, Touray’s lawyer has continued the cross-examination of Mendy. He challenged the former TRRC witness over what he said were inconsistencies in his statements given to the police and the TRRC.
However, the state prosecutor said the witness should not be asked question that will compel him to incriminate himself. But the court ruled that the statements referenced by Touray’s lawyer are not before the court. Therefore, the lawyer cannot ask questions based on documents that are not before the court.
“The said statements referred to are not before the court… The purpose of cross-examination is to punch holes in testimonies before the court,” said High Court Justice Jaiteh.
Touray’s trial has been adjourned to November 11 for continuation. The court will hear the summon against the TRRC executive secretary and the cross examination of Ensa Mendy will continue.