Monrovia – The new trial of two former officials of the National Port Authority (NPA) Matilda Parker and Comptroller Christiana Paelay which opened last Monday at the Temple of Justice received another postponement.
Report By Kennedy L. Yangian [email protected]
On Monday, March 4, presiding Judge Boima Kontoe was constrained to postpone the trail for three days after the prosecution pleaded for more time due to the absence of its first witness.
“Counsel for the state maintains and says that for the production of its witness cannot be held today as the state will need a minimum time of one week so as to get all of its witnesses who will come to this court take the witness stand and testify to the crimes charged against the Defendants,” said Cllr Edwin Martin.
The case was postponed to Thursday, March 7, at the hour of 1:00 pm with all of the parties present.
But Judge Kontoe again after a brief meeting on Thursday informed the parties that the case could not be heard as scheduled due to an on-going case that was taking place at the court scheduled for the same hour.
Following the Judge’s decision, the two Defendants, Parker and Paelay along with their relatives were seen reluctantly leaving the court.
Parker and Paelay were indicted in 2016 after being accused by the Liberia Anti- Corruption Commission (LACC) for allegedly squandering over US$ 800,000 intended to dredge wreck from the Port of Greenville in Sinoe County the claim that the two officials have denied.
According to the LACC, the two former NPA officials allegedly used a bogus company called Denmar Enterprise to carry out the work but the work was never done the claim the two Defendants have repeatedly denied while on trial.
The new trial for the two former NPA officials comes at the time when the Supreme Court gave a mandate to the lower court to proceed with the matter after the high court rules out a decision by the Judge to honor the prosecution request to used witnesses’ testimonies and evidence from the previous trial. The state was unable to locate its previous witnesses at the time of the new trial and that those witnesses available for the new trial are not willing any longer to testify for the prosecution.