One Omar Drammeh of Old Jeshwang, who is also a narcotics officer attached to the NDEA Kanifing Station, on Monday testified as the eight prosecution witness (PW8) in the criminal trial involving the state against Momodou Rongo Jarju and Abdoulie Efry Mbye before the Banjul Magistrates’ Court presided over by Principal Magistrate Taiwo Ade Alagbe.

It would be recalled that the case was adjourned to Monday for continuation of cross-examination of Lamin J. Gassama, the seventh prosecution but the said witness (PW7) was not in court and as a result of that development, when the case came up, the prosecutor ASP Sanyang applied to interpose PW7’s cross-examination with the hearing of the PW8’s evidence.

In his evidence-in-chief, PW8 told the court that in the year 2011, he was assigned to obtain a cautionary statement from the second accused person (Efry Mbye). He revealed that he first wrote the particulars of the said accused person and the accused narrated his statement in Wollof and he wrote it in English in the presence of an independent witness.

The said statement was identified by the witness and the prosecutor applied to tender it in evidence and no objections were raised by the defence. The said statement was admitted and marked as exhibit. During cross-examination of the witness by the second accused, the witness told the court that he read the statement over to the accused.

PW8 disclosed that he showed the petition to the second accused, adding that his responsibility was to obtain a statement from him (the accused). According to the witness, when the second accused claimed that he only took a letter to the Observer MD but he did not take any letter to State House, he (PW8) replied that he did not investigate the case.

At that juncture the case was adjourned to 6th February 2012 for cross-examination of PW7.