Judge refuses to ‘give bail to a mad man’
April 22, 2016 By Hassan Gbassay Koroma
The presiding judge in the $USD700,000 fraud trial of Mohamed M’baqui and Mohamed Mansaray in the High Court of Sierra Leone yesterday said he would not grant bail to an accused person who is insane.
Justice Alusine Sesay was yesterday speaking in open court while giving his ruling on an application made by Lawyer Mohamed Pious Sesay during the previous hearing to the effect that first accused Mohamed M’baqui is having mental problems, thus citing section 71(1) of the Criminal Procedure Act of 1965, which states that in that instance the accused or defendant should be confined in a mental hospital for a period of thirty days for observation.
The section adds that before or immediately upon the conclusion of this period the Chief Medical Officer should provide a report on the condition of the accused or the defendant, signed by two registered medical practitioners, as to the accused’s mental state.
Justice Sesay ruled that notwithstanding the medical report from psychiatrist Dr. Edward Nahim, the first accused is fit to take the witness stand and testify in the matter.
The accused persons were charged with 86 count of conspiracy, defraud, false imprisonment and attempted murder in 2013.
The prosecutor alleges that between 2012 and 2013 the accused persons, with false pretence, duped Mohamed Malik Sariq, an Indian investor, the sum of US$700,000.
The matter was adjourned to 6May for the first accused to start his testimony.