Miltonia Garden and Maria Kallon, who were wrongfully convicted by a Magistrate, along with Fatmata Kamara, who had already completed her sentence in Bo, have been freed by Hon. Justice Abu Bakarr Sannoh under the Prison Court Initiative in Bo.
Miltonia Garden, who was convicted and sentenced to seven years imprisonment, was released based on an application by a Legal Aid Defence Lawyer. The application argued that the Magistrate had exceeded his jurisdiction in sentencing her. Justice Sannoh commented that no Magistrate has the right to sentence a convict to more than five years. Consequently, her sentence was quashed.
Additionally, it was discovered that Maria Kallon was wrongfully charged, convicted, and sentenced to 30 months for unlawful possession of drugs. She was acquitted and discharged by Justice Sannoh.
Hon. Justice Sannoh also acquitted and discharged Fatmata Kamara, who was convicted of domestic violence (economic abuse), despite her having almost completed her term of imprisonment. She was originally convicted and sentenced for taking her husband’s iPad and mobile phone and giving them to her boyfriend. She expressed remorse for her actions.
Furthermore, Justice Sannoh reviewed the sentence of another Fatmata Kamara, who had been convicted at the Magistrate’s Court for administering poison to endanger life, reducing her four-year term by half. Another convict, Mariama Makuwa, had her eight-month sentence reduced to four months.
