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Rui Jabbi’s procurement of arms never materialized
Saturday, 01 May 2010 21:20
NIA Officer Informs CourtAt the resumption of the treason trial of Lang Tombong and seven others, the fifteenth prosecution witness, an NIA operative, continued his testimony before Justice Amadi at the High Court in Banjul, Thursday 29th April.
The witness informed the court that Rui Jabbi Gassama was assigned by Ngorr Secka to procure arms in Guinea Bissau. He said that he made contact with one Trawally for the arm transaction but it never materialized.
The witness said that in another meeting at Samaritan Restaurant in Bissau, Ngorr Secka was with Kukoi Samba Sanyang to see the explosives. He said when they saw the explosives they decided to transport them to Gambia and the ship that was to bring the arms was anchored at a place called Kachew.
The prosecution witness went on to say that after receiving this information, the following day, they traveled to Kachew to see the ship called ‘Mare De Bissau’. He said they came to know of the ship, the place it anchored and the owner of the ship, a Portuguese national, Rui Damas, through Rui Jabbi Gassama.
The witness went on to explain that they went with one security officer, whom they met at the detention centre in Bissau, to seek clearance to see the ship. He added that they saw the ship and interacted with the engineer of the said ship, one Philip who told them that the owner had travelled to Portugal.
He said that they boarded the ship with the help of the security, during which photos of the ship were taken by one of their team members. He said prior to their return to Gambia, they handed over the witness’ statement form to the Guinea Bissau authorities.
He said with the help the Guinea Bissau security officer, Lt. Colonel Sano, on the 18 December 2009, they visited the Samaritan Restaurant where they interacted with the proprietor, Muhammed Nyang, a Senegalese national.
When the witness said that they were informed by Muhammed Nyang, the senior defense counsel Secka made an objection, stating that what Nyang informed them is inadmissible and it is an offence on the rules of hearsay. Secka cited section 19 of the Evidence Act to back his point but quickly informed the court of his withdrawal of objection for the time being.
As he continued his testimony, the witness stated that the restaurant owner informed them that he knew Rui Kujabi Gassama, that he frequently visits the restaurant on a daily basis to have refreshments with Gambians. He further said that a photo of the restaurant was also taken by a team member before they departed.
The witness said Rui told them that Ngorr Secka and Kukoi Samba Sanyang asked him to provide them with four wheel drive vehicles for transporting some dissidents and mercenaries from the sub-region to Gambia. He said they were to travel by land from Bissau to Tambacounda, then Kaolack via Barra and finally to Banjul.
He said Rui told them that Ngorr Secka had called Colonel Ndure Cham and that at one time he (Rui) was able to talk to the former Chief of Defense Staff and Bo Badjie and told them about all the activities in Bissau. The witness said some of the mercenaries are Gambian dissidents. He said they finally came back to Gambia along side Rui Jabbi Gassama and Kabiro Saidy.
He further explained that he knows the Samaritan Restaurant and had his first visit there with Willy Joof, the former Gambian ambassador to Guinea Bissau. He also said their second visit there was to buy fast food.
The witness adduced that when confronted with Rui (Ngorr) denied knowing Rui Jabbi Gassama.
He told the court that an identification parade was conducted at the National Intelligence Agency premises. He said Ngorr Secka was called and informed about the parade and asked whether he wanted to change his clothes but said there was no need.
He said prior to the said parade, Rui Gassama was incommunicado, adding that the parade was held around the investigation grounds with 13 people including Ngorr Secka.
The witness said Ngorr Secka was asked to position himself and Rui was brought and identified Ngorr by placing his hand on his shoulders and a photo was taken. When the DPP asked: ‘‘Who were those on the parade?” The witness responded that they formed the technical unit and mechanic unit of the NIA, and that none of those on parade had access to interact with Rui.
The NIA officer said Ngorr and Rui Jabbi Gassama were later interrogated during which process Ngorr stated that he does not know Rui Jabbi, and that he was identified by Rui because he (Ngorr) was a public figure.
The witness told the court that on the 24th December two separate identification parades were conducted and Bo Badjie was invited with 13 others, where Rui was again brought and he identified Bo by placing his hand on his shoulders, and photos were taken.
The witness said after the parade, he asked Bo Badjie whether he had any observations such as the need to repeat the parade, but he (Bo) said even if identified, it’s because he is a public figure and there is no need to repeat the parade. He went on to inform the court that another parade was conducted concerning the former CDS Lang Tombong Tamba and Rui was again brought and he identified Lang Tombong by raising his rand and touching him. The witness told the court that later Rui and Lang were confronted and Lang denied knowing him (Rui).
The NIA officer said he asked Lang Tombong whether he had any observations about the parade and Lang said that he was featured on Guinea Bissau TV on several occasions during a series of visits there. He said that Lang said it would not be a surprise to him if Rui identified him.
The witness further stated that statements were later obtained from all the accused persons and witnesses concerned and a list of their contacts including Kukoi Samba Sanyang. He also said that a request was made by the NIA to Gamcel, Comium, Africell and Qcell for the respective printouts of the accused persons’ phone calls. He added that this was done at different intervals, starting from November 2009. He also said that the printouts were made available to the panel.
However, the witness went on to state that after two to three weeks, the panel received information that Kukoi Samba Sanyang had made some comments on a web site, www.allGambia.net, headlined “Rui Jabbi Gassama was handed over by Guinea Bissau authorities to the Gambian authorities by government of Malam Bekai Sanha,”. And he said that upon receiving the information they took up the matter with the Director of operations, and he was told to liaise with the IT unit of the NIA to down load the information, which he did from the computer.
Asked by the Director of Public Prosecution, Chenge, whether he can recognize the document, the witness replied in the affirmative.
He said the document was downloaded at the NIA IT Unit using good working computers.
The DDP then applied to tender the said document as an exhibit, which was marked by the presiding judge as Exhibit P25 without objection from the defense counsels.
The case continued on Friday 30th April 2010.
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