Lawyer Borry Touray, the ninth prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of six former operatives of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), yesterday made some startling revelations about the case.

He told Moses Richards of the Kanifing Magistrates' Court that when he received the document written in German language from the complainant, he got a court official to translate it into English.

According to him, the translator certified the document, and it was then given to the prosecution.

He said he had always been in touch with Dr Frank Mahler, one of the complainants. He added that he tried in vain to get the complainants to come down to The Gambia to testify but, he continued, the German Embassy in Dakar and the Foreign Ministry in Berlin dissuaded them from coming to The Gambia for fear of their safety.

Under cross-examination by the defence counsel, Lamin Jobarteh, Lawyer Touray gave the background of the case. He said when the incident happened he went to the Kotu Police Station where Inspector Ceesay told him that when his team received the complaint, they invited the NIA officers concerned in room No 22 at Badala Park Hotel for questioning.

Touray said that the complainants identified the officers as the intruders into room F15 and 16 at the Senegambia Beach Hotel. According to him, he took up the case with Abdoulie Kujabi who was the NIA Director-General at the time, who told him that he had already ordered the arrest of all his men on attachment at room No 22 at Badala Park Hotel.

He adduced that he was given the names of four people who were said to have taken part in the raid while the other two came up during the course of the investigation. He said he got the names of Kajali Jawara and Lamin Sanneh, third and fourth accused person respectively, when he interviewed Dr Frank Mahler. He added that he got the names of the first and fifth accused persons, Lamin Drammeh and Fabakary Barrow, from Inspector Ceesay.

On the involvement of Salimina Drammeh, Touray said that the Commanding Officer Serious Crime unit informed him that Mr. Drammeh got incriminated because of the negligence in his failure to retrieve the items from his men, nor reported the matter to the authorities. 

He said his clients told him that they were ordered to open their rooms and that when they did, their rooms were ransacked, items confiscated and were then asked to leave the country and not to report the matter.

Lawyer Touray revealed that the Germans told him that the accused persons took from them US$205,600, 1100 Dalasis, two mobile phones - Nokia and Siemens- 100 euros, eight pieces of diamond, air tickets and passports and a shaving machine. He said the then IGP, Ebou Njie, told him that the NIA demanded the release of Adama Bangura, a witness in their custody, because they wanted to send her back to Sierra Leone in order to destroy the evidence.

According to Touray, the NIA even asked for the file from the police so as to destroy it.

He added that some of the accused persons, especially the first accused Lamin Drammeh, tried to interfere with the case. He added that Dr. Alamin told him that even while he was on his sick bed, the accused kept calling him to beg him not to disclose what had happened to him.

Touray added that Daba Marena, who took over from Abdoulie Kujabi as the NIA boss, told him that the accused persons pestered him to reinstate them, as they claimed that the case was already dead.