THE trial of the three Lebanese suspects, Mustapha Fawaz, Abdallah
Tahini and Talal Ahmad Roda, who are standing trial before the Federal
High Court sitting in Abuja, began on Wednesday, just as the Department
of State Security (DSS) tendered eight DVDs of different interview
sessions with the suspects.
The first accused person, Mustapha Fawaz, during his own interview session as shown in the video clip admitted to taking aerial pictures of strategic buildings in Abuja from the Sheraton building.
He said in the interview that he was able to do that with some foreigners, whom he could no longer identify, adding that he conducted the said foreigners round Abuja in a bid to locate the Israeli Embassy.
The DVD copies, which were tendered before Justice Ademola Adeniyi by Simon Egede, Director of Public Prosecution, on behalf of the Federal Government, were, however, admitted in evidence by the court.
Though, the defence counsel, Chief Robert Clarke, did not object to the admissibility of the DVDs discs and the statement of the prosecuting witness 10 for purpose of relevancy, he said he would challenge the credibility of the DVDs.
Following the court’s granting of Egede’s application to play the video clips of the interview sessions with the Lebanese suspects, the prosecuting witness, a technical staff of the Department of State Service tagged DSS 10 was called upon to play the DVDs for the court.
In the first video clip played on a projector, DSS 10 in hood identified the suspect being interviewed as Talal Rhoda, the third accused person who was found and arrested at 3 Gaya Road, Kano, on May 26, 2013.
The interview session revealed that Rhoda admitted having knowledge of the existence of a bunker underground in the house he was found and arrested in Kano; just as the video showed his admission that he serviced the weapons hidden underneath the bunker from time to time.
Similarly, the first accused person, Mustapha Fawaz, during his own interview session as shown in the video clip, had admitted taking aerial pictures of strategic buildings in Abuja from the Sheraton building.
The first accused person, Mustapha Fawaz, during his own interview session as shown in the video clip admitted to taking aerial pictures of strategic buildings in Abuja from the Sheraton building.
He said in the interview that he was able to do that with some foreigners, whom he could no longer identify, adding that he conducted the said foreigners round Abuja in a bid to locate the Israeli Embassy.
The DVD copies, which were tendered before Justice Ademola Adeniyi by Simon Egede, Director of Public Prosecution, on behalf of the Federal Government, were, however, admitted in evidence by the court.
Though, the defence counsel, Chief Robert Clarke, did not object to the admissibility of the DVDs discs and the statement of the prosecuting witness 10 for purpose of relevancy, he said he would challenge the credibility of the DVDs.
Following the court’s granting of Egede’s application to play the video clips of the interview sessions with the Lebanese suspects, the prosecuting witness, a technical staff of the Department of State Service tagged DSS 10 was called upon to play the DVDs for the court.
In the first video clip played on a projector, DSS 10 in hood identified the suspect being interviewed as Talal Rhoda, the third accused person who was found and arrested at 3 Gaya Road, Kano, on May 26, 2013.
The interview session revealed that Rhoda admitted having knowledge of the existence of a bunker underground in the house he was found and arrested in Kano; just as the video showed his admission that he serviced the weapons hidden underneath the bunker from time to time.
Similarly, the first accused person, Mustapha Fawaz, during his own interview session as shown in the video clip, had admitted taking aerial pictures of strategic buildings in Abuja from the Sheraton building.
