One Musa Kanteh, a Guinean, on Tuesday, appeared before the principal magistrate of the Kanifing Magistrates Court, Sainabou Wadda-Ceesay, charged with house breaking, to which he pleaded not guilty.

In his defence, he told the court that in the month of December 2008, he was walking from Bakau to his residence in Tabokoto, Serrekunda. He narrated that when he arrived inKanifing, he was exhausted and sat down under a tree to rest. He added that while reading his novel under the tree, a policeman came up to him and asked what he was doing.

According to him, the police interrogated him, beat him, forcefully put him in a car and took him to the Kanifing Police Station where they obtained a statement from him and subsequently charged him. Musa Kanteh is said to have broken into a hospital in Kanifing.