By Allieu Sahid Tunkara and Janet A. Sesay
Appeals Court is set to commence hearing on the matter of Alfred Paolo Conteh, the former Minister of Defence as well as Internal Affairs in the past Koroma-led administration.
The appeal emanated from a high court verdict that convicted Paolo Conteh of two counts of keeping a greater number of small arms than is specified in the licence and having a loaded small arm in a public place.
The verdict, if left, unappealed would cause Paolo Conteh to spend two years behind bars.
The defence team was not convinced of the conviction of Paolo Conteh in respect of the two offences thereby compelling them to file an appeal on behalf of the accused.
One of the defence lawyers, Wara Serry Kamal confirmed to Nightwatch that the defence’s appeal had been registered in court yesterday.
The main grounds for the appeal, Madam Kamal said, were the High Court judgement and the conviction of the accused among others.
She is quite hopeful that once the appeal hearing commences, bail for the accused would be secured.
“Bail for Mr Paolo Conteh is already in progress and will be completed by tomorrow,” she said.
The defence’s quest for bail for the accused is in line with the Bail Regulations of 2019 as the two offences for which an appeal has been filed are bailable.
Mr Alfred Paolo Conteh and two employees of the Commission on Small Arms, Sahr Anthony Sinnah and Prince George Hughes, were arrested and charged to court with treason related offences in March this year.
It was alleged by State prosecutors that Paolo Conteh was going to assassinate President Julius Maada Bio and take over administration of state while Sinnah and Hughes were roped in for aiding and abetting the commission of treason.
Conteh and the two officials were represented by a team of defence of lawyers with Dr Abdulai O. Conteh, former Attorney-General as the lead while sacked AG, Dr Priscillia Schwartz and other state lawyers prosecuted for the state.
The trial which went on for almost three months was presided over by Justice Alhaji Momoh Jah Stevens of the High Court of Sierra Leone with 12 jurors.
The Justice Stevens verdict saw the acquittal and discharge of Sinnah and Hughes, the two officials of the Commission on Small Arms.
Alfred Paolo Conteh too would have walked free had it not been the two counts of which he was convicted.
The verdict was generally acclaimed as free and fair by the public as a conviction of treason for Paolo Conteh was widely expected.
Many Sierra Leoneans believe that the ‘Not-Guilty’ handed down by the High Court is not unconnected to the dismissal of the AG, Madam Schwartz.
Public accusations indicate that She misled the government into believing that the act of Paolo Conteh at State House constituted treason contrary to recommendations of the Criminal Investigation Department.
The defence team and state prosecutors will again battle it out at the Appeals Court for months as the case is being stated for hearing.
The sacked AG, Madam Schwartz will not form part of the prosecution team in the Appeals Court, but the newly appointed one, Anthony Brewah will, and his legal expertise earned close to 30 years is expected to showcase in the hearing.
The Public breathlessly wait to see the outcome of the appeals hearing.