Murder Trial of Accused Killer in Youth Leader’s Death Stalls Over Missing Indictment

The murder trial of a man accused of fatally stabbing a university youth leader was adjourned almost as soon as it began on Tuesday, after the presiding judge said she had not yet received the formal charging document needed to proceed.

The case against the defendant, Momodou Bah, who is also known by the nickname “Area,” was called before Justice Sidi K. Jobarteh at the High Court, where she told the parties that the Bill of Indictment — the document that formally lays out the charges against a defendant in serious criminal cases — had not reached her.

E.R. Durgan, the deputy director of public prosecutions, who represented the state, said the indictment had in fact been filed with the Central Registry of the High Court, suggesting a possible administrative delay rather than an omission by prosecutors. Mr. Bah appeared in court without a lawyer.

Unable to proceed without the document in hand, Justice Jobarteh adjourned the case until noon on July 2, when she said she expected the indictment to be before her.

Mr. Bah is accused of stabbing Ba Yunusa Mbye, a university youth leader, in the neck with a bottle in Fajara on June 15, an attack prosecutors say caused Mr. Mbye’s death. He has been charged with murder under Section 155 of the Criminal Offences Act of 2025.

The case reached the High Court only last week, after a magistrates’ court ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to try a capital offense and transferred the matter up for trial.