By Kemeseng Sanneh (Kexx)
The trial of four men accused of carrying out armed robberies at several businesses, including United Bureau, United Vegetable Oil Company, Access Bank, and El-Hella Company, was postponed once again on Monday, as two of the defendants remained without legal representation.
The suspects, who appeared before Justice Cham last week, had already been granted a delay to secure lawyers. However, when the case resumed, only one of the accused, Ansumana Jarju, had obtained legal counsel.
At the hearing, state prosecutor M.F. Njie informed the court that he had been in contact with the National Agency for Legal Aid (NALA) and was told that representatives would arrive by 11:30 a.m.. After waiting past the scheduled time, Njie requested a brief recess, which the court granted.
When proceedings resumed, attorney C. Mjoke appeared on behalf of NALA, but stated that the agency had not yet received official instructions to represent the defendants. In response, the judge said an order would be issued to address the matter.
The court then questioned Abdoulie Jallow, the second accused, about his legal representation. Jallow replied that he was still in the process of securing a lawyer and requested an additional week for his family to arrange legal counsel. The judge granted the request, but issued a warning: if the two unrepresented defendants fail to secure lawyers by the next hearing, they will be assigned counsel by NALA.
The case was adjourned to March 26 at 12:30 p.m., marking another delay in the trial of the suspected robbers.
