Montserrado County Representative YekehKolubah’s former chief of security Abu Keita says he can’t remember what he said at the police station while being investigated at the time for beating one Emmanuel Freeman on the alleged instruction of his former boss, defendant Kolubah.
Testifying as sixth State witness after prosecutors dropped charges against him, Keita explained Wednesday, 15 April that he worked for Kolubah as a security man, claiming that the lawmaker instructed him on 3 June 2019 to get Emmanuel Freeman by all cause for fear that Freeman would have disrupted a June 7 program.
“I can’t remember,” the witness testifies in response to a defense lawyer’s inquiry as to what he said at the police station in follow up to Keita’s narration in the court that he was invited by police for investigation, and he made and signed a statement.
Mr. Kolubah and his former bodyguards and supporters were jointly indicted last year by prosecution over claims that the lawmaker ordered his bodyguards to beat and wound Freeman for his alleged refusal to accept T-shirts and leaflets printed for the June 7, 2019 Save the State peaceful protest organized by the Council of Patriots (COP).
The indictment says Oliver Konneh, Abu Keita, Mohammed Keita, and Johnson Skpor illegally arrested Emmanuel Freeman in Gay Town, Old Road Community on 5 June at 4:30, stripped him naked, handcuffed him and severely beat him with sticks, rocks and piece of iron on his head and other parts of the victim’s body.
Prosecutors claim in the indictment that the bodyguards acted on Rep. Kolubah’s order, with allegation made that Rep. Kolubah came out of this house “with a pistol” in his hand and allegedly remarked: “This is the man, we’ll zero him tonight.”
After Mr. Kolubah was granted a separate trial by Criminal Court “A” to enable him attend legislative functions on Tuesdays and Thursdays while he faces trial on other days in the week, the government here subsequently dropped charges against the rest of the indictees, leaving the lawmaker a lone defendant in the case.
Kolubah, a staunch critic of President George Manneh Weah, faces charges of alleged aggravated assault, criminal attempt to commit murder, kidnapping, criminal solicitation and criminal facilitation.
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His former chief of security, now a government witness, explains that following Kolubah’s instruction to get Freeman by all cause, he (Keita), Frank O. Morgan and Paul Kun “went Chuboy,” an area in the Old Road Community for Freeman, saying “we saw Emmanuel Freeman under Market Kitchen and he escaped.”
He notes that after he and his two men arrested Freeman and took him to Rep. Kolubah’s yard, police came to the victim’s rescue, following which he (Keita) was invited by police for investigation which led him to make and sign a statement at the police headquarters.
“We brought him in the yard and we put handcuff on his hand under the market kitchen and he gave us the instruction to [naked] him,” the witness testifies.But he says he can’t remember what he said at the police station, and denies making stating to investigators that he and the two others arrested Freeman because the victim had allegedly stolen an IPhone.
When they took Freeman to Kolubah’s yard, Keita claims that the defendant came outside [in] underwear with a gun, and allegedly said: “[Look], we will kill you.”Suddenly he says police got the information and went there, but Rep. Kolubah went in his yard upon noticing that police were coming. According to Keita, police took Freeman to JFK.By Winston W. Parley
