Work for magistrates, judges and other judicial officers now have less work as 1, 890 prisoners have left following a jail break last Sunday. Of this number, only 155 face life imprisonment and few others who are long-term convicts. For the rest, their matters are still pending, and magistrate and judicial officers are supposed to be on their seats at this time.
But, with the prisoners’ escape, the judicial officers would now stay home in days to come. As if she saw it coming, Magistrate Isata Sellu Tucker, for a week was not in court leaving complainants, witnesses and the accused persons in big doubt.
Speaking to this press, a complainant in an assault matter, Aminata Sesay says her matter is now closed as the accused is among those who fleeing into the bush, but she blames it on the court owing to delays.
She told this press that all along she had been cooperating with the court by bringing witnesses to court to prove her case, but there has been a waste of time on the part of the prosecution. When asked what will be her next line of action, Aminata says she leaves everything to God as situation appears to be beyond their control.
“Initially, I had wanted to blame the courts, but when I sit and think about the entire situation, I come to realise that it is the work of God as no one expected a prison break at this time,” Aminata told this press in a sad mood.
However, she is hopeful that his case would come up one in court one day as most would be captured and brought back. A Businessman, Ibrahim Kamara also expressed similar concerns as their cases have come to a sudden end after most of the prisoners ran away from their cells during attacks, last Sunday, on the main correctional centre on Pademba Road in Freetown.
Kamara’s case under trial involved a fraudster who did away with his money running into several millions of Leones, but the current situation shows no more hope as the accused has gone at large. Like Aminata, Kamara sounded hopeful that one day his case would be heard again when the men are re-arrested.
“Although it will take time, I am hopeful that one day the runaway suspect would be caught and returned to the station,” he told this press.
Such hope was also shared by the Public Relations Officer, Leslie Cole Showers who assured the public that most of the prisoners have been taken back into their cells while others voluntarily handed in themselves to the authorities.
The famous artist, Alhaji Jalloh aka LAJ who was among the escapees has surrendered to the prison authorities and others have followed suit.
However, the Public Relations officer, Elkass Sannoh could not be reached to explain what strategies the judiciary is pursuing to mitigate the impact of Sunday’s incident. As if she saw it coming, a magistrate at Court-2 on Pa Demba Road in Freetown, Isata Sellu Tucker had left even before the tragic incident unfolded.
News reports say the magistrate is on medical leave in the United States but without a replacement much to the anger of those whose matters are pending in court. The move is bizzare as it derails a normal protocol and procedure in the judiciary and even in the public or civil service.
Public service etiquette demands that another magistrate steps into the shoes of the other who cannot sit by virtue of ill-health and other incapacities either temporal or permanent. It is a different case here as there was no magistrate to sit on the matters after Mrs Tucker left.
A co-magistrate, Hadiru Daboh attempted to look into the matters once but stopped half-way for an unexplained reason. Courts without inmates take one’s mind back to April, 2020 during an armed raid at the main correctional centre in an attempt to forestall a jail break.
31 casualties including a prison officer were recorded although unofficial sources indicated a a higher figure. The prison deaths, at that time, also derailed court sessions as complaints were present but the accused persons absent. Proceedings of a magistrate court in Freetown stalled the accused were nowhere to be found.
This year appears to be the worst as almost all prisoners were let loose leaving slightly above 20 in custody suffice it to say the courts have only little to do at this moment.
Reliable sources also informed this press that delays in trials, unlawful arrest and detention, congestion and other factors also contributed greatly to most of the prison breaks Sierra Leone has seen over the years with Sunday’s scenario being no exception.
In several court sessions, accused persons have always showed up while the prosecutors would request the court to give them time to bring their witnesses even during first appearances.
On the other hand, bail applications by counsels are often turned down even if there are collateral security as well as competent and reliable persons to stand surety. The interlude between the first the first adjournment and the second usually last for days and sometimes for a week at the detriment of the accused persons who are usually held in custody thus lending credence to the time-honoured adage that ‘justice denied is justice delayed.’
Unlawful arrest and detention also brings special problems to the prison yard, a challenge they have been grappling with between 2018 and 2023.
It was between such period that several past government officials were arrested and detained for months only to be released without charges. It is clear in the cases of former ministers of government, Alfred Paolo Conteh, Kemo Sesay, Karmoh Kabba and others.
Few months back, those picked up in their homes for coup-related offences were never arraigned and also not clear whether they had been released from custody. The public came to know about their attention only when the prison was broken into.
Human rights report also pointed out congestion in the prison cells as a situation that usually bring about disgruntlement among inmates which could be easily exploited by those with the wrong intention.
Pademba Road prison, according to government records, was constructed to cater for only 300 inmates, but over the years, close to 2, 000 are now presently held at the facility and effort for relocation is yet to materialise.
Reports released from US State Department have indicated that most times, delays in several court sessions were the main causes of the congestion and prison breaks. Credible sources have informed this press that judicial officers were already disgruntled ahead of the current situation as United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has withdrawn support from the judiciary owing to the election fraud.
As part of the justice sector reform project, the UN body has been supporting the judiciary in terms of salaries, allowances and other support, but such aid has come to a halt after ECSL (Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone) led by Mohamed Kenewui Konneh allegedly fraudulently declared Bio winner of the elections.
Konneh heads ECSL, a body mandated by law, to conduct and supervise public elections in Sierra Leone and has never shown impartiality from the outset. The Chief Electoral Commissioner failed to print quality voter identity cards and the voters register for the sake of transparency and accountability, and at all stages, refused to adhere to public calls to do what is right.
The European Union, United Nations, Commonwealth, African Union and the Economic Community Of West African States also condemned the elections as one that lacked transparency, but such pronouncements did not hold back the ECSL boss from announcing Bio winner of the elections.
The only way the international community could force Konneh to comply is to hold back donor funding from all public institutions including the courts whose officers are now sad-faced, but angry as there is no more work at the moment.