Justice Richards of the Special Criminal Court in Banjul on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 categorically stated that the issue of a state witness producing his passport before the Special Court would hold the court to ransom.

Justice Richards made this remark during the hearing of the criminal matter involving the state against three accused persons who are charged with three counts of abduction, assault  and theft. The three: Sheriff Jallow, Gibril Jallow and Banna Joiner, were alleged to have abducted one Ismaila Demba, commonly known as Ossu Boy, in November 2008 at Luigi's Restaurant in Kololi, KSMD. When the matter came up on Wednesday, Justice Moses Richards recalled Modou Musa Cham, a prosecution witness, and asked him if he had complied with the court order to produce his old passport. The witness told the court that he had searched everywhere for his passport but to no avail.

Lawyer Jobarteh, the defence counsel, then stated that since the witness had defaulted in  producing his passport again, he should be punished. The deputy director of Public Prosecution, DDPP Mikailu Abdulahi, told the court that the witness' wife had written a letter from Norway stating that the witness was never deported from Norway. DDPP Mikailu further said the witness had made all reasonable efforts to produce his passport noting that there is no evidence that he is deliberately refusing to produce his passport.

The DDPP urged the court to give the witness reasonable time to produce his passport as he must have misplaced it. Justice Richards responded that he would not let the issue of the witness' passport hold the court to ransom. He then began quizzing the witness about his relationship with a certain German lady,  and the nature of the business between the witness, the accused person  and the German lady. The witness denied being involved in drug trafficking.

When asked what was in the two suitcases the German lady was said to have been found with, he replied that he did not know and said the lady was a tenant living in one of his compounds at Sanchaba Sulay Jobe. Justice Richards then ordered the witness, Modou Musa Cham, to produce the documents and photographs of the interior of the property on the next adjourned date, September 24, 2009.