Gambiaj.com – (BANJUL, The Gambia) – State prosecutors have filed five criminal charges against Omar Kujabi, widely known as Junior Baytullah, accusing him of sedition, threatening violence, and spreading false information in connection with a series of WhatsApp audio messages allegedly circulated in 2022.
According to a charge sheet from the Attorney General’s Office, the offenses are said to have occurred in September and October 2022 in Kafuta Village and other parts of the West Coast Region. The charges are brought under the Criminal Code and the Information and Communication Act.
Kujabi faces two counts of sedition under Sections 52(1)(a) and 52(1)(b) of the Criminal Code. Prosecutors allege he recorded and shared audio messages urging people to “go out to the streets and march to the State House” with the aim of unlawfully removing the government of President Adama Barrow.
The State further contends that the messages were intended to incite disaffection and bring the President into hatred or contempt.
A third count accuses Kujabi of threatening violence, contrary to Section 84(a), with prosecutors alleging he threatened officers of the Police Intervention Unit (PIU) who were deployed to arrest him.
The fourth charge relates to the publication of false news under Section 59(1), with the State claiming Kujabi disseminated audio messages calling for an unlawful takeover of the government, with the intent to cause fear and alarm.
The final count is brought under Section 173A(1)(f) of the Information and Communication Act, as amended in 2013. Prosecutors allege Kujabi used WhatsApp to issue threats against PIU officers assigned to provide security to the President.
During proceedings, the prosecution called its second witness, Police Officer Ansumana Kujabi, who testified that he participated in the arrest of the accused in Sotokoi village.
The officer, a 13-year veteran, told the court that he was part of a team from the Anti-Crime Unit dispatched under the command of Commissioner Sowe to apprehend a suspect linked to the audio messages. He said he was shown a photograph of Kujabi before the operation to aid identification.
“Upon arrival at the compound in Sotokoi, I saw somebody trying to run away. When I looked at the person, he resembled the same person that was shown to me in the photo,” the witness testified, adding that a colleague apprehended the suspect, who was then transported to the Anti-Crime Unit.
He told the court the arrest took place at a compound where a naming ceremony was underway, which he said was reportedly being hosted by the accused.
When asked why Kujabi attempted to flee, the officer said he could not determine the reason but believed he was trying to evade arrest. “The moment we stepped at the gate, he came out from the house and started running,” he said.
Under cross-examination by defense counsel J. Jeng, the witness acknowledged he was not part of the investigation team and had only been involved in the arrest.
Counsel Jeng suggested that the audio messages referenced the deaths of approximately 70 children linked to acute kidney injury, but the witness said he could not recall the full content of the recordings.
“All I can recall is him saying that the President should leave the State House,” the officer maintained when pressed.
Following his testimony, the witness was discharged without further questions. Proceedings in the case are expected to continue.
Leave a Reply