Alleged Armed Robbers at court -Photo credit: Kexx
By Admin
The trial of four individuals accused of armed robbery in connection with the United Bureau, United Vegetable Oil Company, Access Bank, and El-Hella Company has been delayed once more due to the continued absence of legal representation for some of the defendants.
The suspects were initially arraigned before Justice Cham last week, but proceedings were stalled as some lacked legal counsel. The court granted them additional time to secure lawyers, yet when the case was recalled today, two of the accused remained without legal representation.
During the hearing, State Counsel M.F. Njie appeared for the prosecution, while Lawyer E. Sanneh represented the first accused, Ansumana Jarju. Counsel Njie informed the court that he had been notified by the National Agency for Legal Aid (NALA) that their representatives would arrive by 11:30 AM. However, after the designated time passed, he requested a brief recess, which the court granted.
Upon resumption, Counsel C. Mjoke appeared on behalf of NALA but stated that the agency had not yet received official instructions to represent the defendants. In response, the presiding judge assured that an order would be issued accordingly.
The court then questioned the second accused, Abdoulie Jallow, regarding his legal representation. Jallow explained that he was still in the process of securing a lawyer and requested an additional week for his family to arrange legal counsel. The judge ruled that if the two unrepresented defendants fail to obtain legal counsel by the next hearing, they will be assigned representation by NALA.
The case has been adjourned to March 26th at 12:30 PM.