Ousainu Bojang in court
Justice Ebrima Jaiteh of the High Court in Banjul has admitted the diary of Sukuta Police Station into evidence in the ongoing trial of Ousainou Bojang and his sister, Amie Bojang.
Ousainou Bojang is facing charges of shooting and killing two police constables of the Gambia Police Force in 2023.
When the case was called, lawyer Lamin J. Darboe requested the court admit the Sukuta Police Station diary covering the period from September 12 to September 28, 2023. The Director of Public Prosecutions, Abdul Maita Yusuf, raised no objections. Justice Jaiteh granted the request, marking the diary pages as D17, pages 1 to 41.
Regarding the phones, lawyer Lamin J. Darboe informed the court that a technician was present. The court directed the technician to approach the bench.
Earlier, in the previous session, lawyer Darboe had requested the presence of an IT technician to unlock a phone submitted by the Director of Public Prosecution, A.M. Yusuf, following the court’s order. Ousainou Bojang had claimed that he could not access the phone, which was secured by a PIN set by the police. He testified that the phone had no PIN when he initially handed it to the police but was later protected by a password after being reset.
The IT technician, Yusuf Kaba, introduced himself as a specialist in phone and computer repairs. He explained that there were two methods to unlock a reset phone: restoring data through a Google account or accepting that the information would be lost if the Google credentials were unavailable. Justice Jaiteh ordered the technician to attempt unlocking the phone in court. However, the technician’s efforts were hindered as the phone’s battery died during the process.
At this point, lawyer Darboe applied for the phone to be handed over to Ousainou Bojang, requesting it be admitted as evidence. There were no objections from either the Director of Public Prosecution or the defense attorney for the second accused. The court then admitted the phone as evidence, marking it as D18.
During questioning, lawyer Darboe inquired whether Ousainou could recall his Google account password. Ousainou responded that he could not remember it, as it had been a long time since he had created the account. When asked if he could retrieve the password, Ousainou explained that he had recorded it in a diary at home. He further assured the court that his brother, Nfamara, could bring the diary for him.
“Do you know your Google account password,” Lawyer J. Darboe asked Ousainou.
“I can’t remember it because it has been a long time,” Ousainou replied
“Would you get your password to the Google account,” Lawyer J. Darboe asked.“Yes, when I was creating the account, I recorded my Google password in a diary at home,” Ousainou replied.
“Could someone from the family get access to the dairy and bring it for you,” Lawyer J. Darboe sought
“Yes, my brother Nfamara can bring it for me,” Ousainou assureIn light of this, lawyer Darboe applied for an adjournment to allow Ousainou to access the diary and retrieve his Google password. The application was not opposed by the State. Justice Jaiteh granted the request, and the case was adjourned to February 17, 2025.