MONROVIA — Former Solicitor General of Liberia, Cllr. Sayma Syrenius Cephus, has called on President Joseph Nyuma Boakai to publicly apologize to former Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor over what he described as the degrading manner in which she was arrested and detained in connection with Liberia’s multimillion-dollar drug investigation.
By Gerald C. Koinyeneh, [email protected]
Taylor, a former First Lady, Senator and Vice President, has been charged with drug trafficking, money laundering and other offenses following the government’s investigation into a major cocaine seizure.
She was initially placed in pretrial detention at the Monrovia Central Prison before the court later granted her compassionate release.
In a national address before her release, President Boakai said Taylor would be afforded due process and a fair trial, while reaffirming his administration’s commitment to leaving no stone unturned in the fight against drugs and other illicit substances.
But Cephus, while expressing support for the administration’s anti-drug campaign, said the government’s pursuit of justice must not come at the expense of due process, dignity and the presumption of innocence.
In a strongly worded statement titled “Mr. President, You Owe Madam Jewel Howard Taylor an Apology,” Cephus said he was not asking the President to apologize for the allegations against Taylor, but for the manner in which she was treated during her arrest.
“I fully support the President’s war on drugs,” Cephus said. “If anyone, including former officials, is found to be part of a drug network, let the full weight of the law apply.”
However, he argued that “process matters as much as outcome,” warning that the treatment of former officials accused of crimes must not resemble practices associated with Liberia’s past military regimes.
“The way Jewel was arrested is exactly how the PRC operated in the 1980s,” Cephus said, referring to the People’s Redemption Council, which seized power in 1980.
He questioned whether a former constitutional Vice President needed to be arrested in a manner he said appeared degrading while the allegations against her remained subject to judicial determination.
“Do we need to effect the arrest of a former First Lady, a former Senator, and a former constitutional Vice President in a manner that appears degrading, when what is being said about her remains an allegation?” he asked.
‘Why Was She Arrested That Way?’
Cephus also questioned aspects of the government’s handling of Taylor’s case, including its decision to seek bail after initially placing her in detention.
“If the government has ‘overwhelming evidence,’ why did the same government that arrested her file a Bill of Information to admit her to bail?” he asked. “Is the government now acting as both prosecution and defense in the same case?”
He further questioned whether Taylor had been considered a flight risk and whether authorities had first invited her for questioning before carrying out what he described as a highly publicized arrest.
Cephus said he was particularly troubled by what he characterized as the government’s public-relations campaign following Taylor’s arrest.
“Government apologists went on air saying, ‘Jewel should confess, the evidence is overwhelming,’” he said. “Confess to what?”
According to Cephus, publicly declaring a suspect guilty before trial undermines the justice process.
He compared the situation to “catching a man, beating him, calling him a ‘rogue,’ and then demanding that he confess to being a rogue,” arguing that such treatment amounts to public humiliation rather than justice.
“This is a serious misstep in the ARREST Agenda,” he said.
‘Let the Court Determine That’
Cephus stressed that his criticism should not be interpreted as opposition to the government’s drug campaign or as a declaration of Taylor’s innocence.
“I am not asking for an apology for the allegations linking her to drugs. No, far from it,” he said. “Let the court determine that and let the chips fall where they may.”
Instead, he said the President should apologize for what he considers the government’s treatment of Taylor as though she had already been convicted.
“I am asking for an apology for the manner of treatment meted out against a former Vice President,” Cephus said, criticizing what he described as a “near-naked spectacle before television cameras” that portrayed Taylor as though she were already condemned.
“For treating a former Vice President like a convicted criminal awaiting execution before trial,” he added.
Cephus also invoked a previous conversation he said he had with Boakai during the Alexander Benedict Cummings trial, when Boakai was Vice President.
According to Cephus, Boakai had then emphasized the importance of having people around the presidency who would tell the President when his actions were wrong and prioritize truth over friendship.
“Mr. President, you owe Madam Jewel Howard Taylor a public apology,” Cephus concluded. “And I mean it.”
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