The presiding judge in the Sierra Leone Chancery Building Matter, Justice Adrian Fisher has assured the bar and members of the public that the trial will be conducted fairly.
Justice Fisher’s statement came after Dr. Samura Kamara’s lawyer objected to the video vising of the trial citing prejudice against the case from the public.
“When the hearing is now being recorded and live-streamed, my lord it is only this video side of it that the public will get,” lawyer Sesay argued.
The defense lawyer added that live-streaming could also affect witnesses who will be testifying in the matter.
Sesay argued that live-streaming could prejudice the case and that it is unjust for the court to take this direction after the prosecution has ended his case.
“There are certain witnesses that are frightful of television and these recordings are permanent, my lord,” Sesay continued his argument. He added that the trial is “no ordinary one”.
He stated that the facts of prosecution witnesses are not in the public and that the facts that could be privy to the public are those of defense witnesses. He furthered that the views of the people are important more than ever as their client is now the Presidential Candidate of the main opposition APC party.
“The court ought to be seen as being impartial in the application of the law,” Sesay submitted in court.
“Video vising is not new but why now?” Sesay enquired in court.
The presiding judge in the matter, Justice Adrian Fisher did not accede with the defense lawyer hinging it on the basis that public perception is not relevant in the case.
“Is the public determining this case?” Justice Fisher asked the defense lawyer.
The Judge also referenced that people have been making recordings of the case before the sitting, ridiculing him and abusing his mother altogether because of him executing his duty; rantings, he said, he did not complain about.
He said the reason the court decided to live stream the trial was that some attendees at the sitting have been misleading the public.
The APC Presidential Candidate is in court with others to answer to crimes related to corruption in the Sierra Leone Chancery Building in New York. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) accused Kamara of misleading the principal and misappropriation public funds when he was Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in the Ernest Bai Koroma Administration.
Kamara has long denied the allegation citing that they are politically motivated and geared towards the smearing of his political image and ambition
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