This order was made by Magistrate Surahata Danso on Tuesday, 1st September, 2015 when Mr. Baldeh appeared before the Jareng Magistrates’ Court to answer to charges of disobedience to lawful order and threatening violence which he denied. The statement of offence for Count One is ‘Disobedience of lawful order’ contrary to the laws of The Gambia. According to the particulars of offence, “Sambayel Baldeh on or about the 26th Day of August 2015 at Sare Bakary Village, Central River Region of the Republic of the Gambia, disobeyed the order of the chief of Niamina East that “Nobody should plough on the said piece of land which he did and thereby commits an offence.” Count two is ‘Threatening violence’, with the particulars of offence stating that Sambayel Baldeh on or about the 26th Day of August 2015 at Sare Bakary village, with intent to intimidate or annoy, threatened to kill Mr. Ousman Sowe with a cutlass and thereby committed and offence. At this stage, Magistrate Danso asked the accused whether he intends to have a lawyer and the accused responded in the positive. He further asked the accused what he was doing in securing a counsel since he was released on bail and the accused responded that he has already secured a counsel. When asked why his counsel did not appear in court, the accused said he (Baldeh) did not know that the case would be before the court on that day and that was the reason why his counsel was not informed. Asked whether he understood the charges against him, the accused responded that he understood the charges against him but pleaded his innocence. The magistrate asked the accused whether he is the same Sambayel Baldeh who was part of those people from Choya who were sentenced for three years in probation and in which they signed a recognizance with the court to be of good behavior and to be maintaining the peace within the three years. The accused responded in the positive. “Then you ended up breaking the peace?” asked the magistrate. “I did not break the law because I was in my farm land and do not expect anyone to tell me anything that can make me break the peace,” responded the accused. At this stage, Police Constable 4370 E. Jallow, the prosecutor, applied for adjournment to enable the prosecution to call their witnesses and to access other documents that are essential in the trial. In his ruling, Magistrate Danso granted the application of the prosecution and ordered the accused to be remanded to enable him to review the previous case file in order to satisfy himself with the conditions of recognizance signed by the accused before taking further action. ]]>
