Monrovia – The Government of Liberia through the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) dismal performance in prosecuting corruption cases continues to give defendants a loop hole to escape prosecution through the court.
Report by Bettie K. Johnson-Mbyao/ [email protected]
The LACC often glorifies itself whenever it indicts individuals, but is failure to produce evidence remains a major challenge in prosecuting cases, especially indicted present and former government officials.
Clemenceau Urey was indicted alongside eight others who allegedly engaged in acts which denoted economic sabotage, bribery and criminal conspiracy. The case against the accused was later dropped because of the prosecution’s failure to produce evidence and proceed with the case.
Recently, Mr. T. Nelson Williams, the former Managing Director of the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company and the former Minister of Commerce Miatta Beysolow were indicted along with a host of others for their alleged role in the illegal sale of the Japanese Oil Grant.
The court cleared the former commerce minister on grounds that the government failed to prove the charges pressed against her.
The former Commerce boss was brought under the jurisdiction of the court on February 22, 2016 when the Grand Jury of Montserrado County charged her with economic sabotage, misapplication of entrusted property, criminal conspiracy and criminal facilitation and violation of the Public Procurement & Concession Commission (PPCC) processes and procedures.
She was indicted by the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) along-side the former Managing Director of the Liberia Petroleum Refinery Company (LPRC) T. Nelson Williams, Director of Price Analysis at the Commerce Ministry, Steven Flahn Paye, former LPRC Deputy boss for Operation, Aaron Wheagar and the CEO of the Aminata & Sons Inc, Siaka Tulay.
The former officials’ indictment was drawn out based on the sale of a Japanese Oil grant donated to Liberian Government, valued at over US$13 million.
According to the indictment, the government and people of Liberia did not benefit from proceeds from the sale of the donation and accused the defendants of jointly conspiring to rob the country and its people of proceeds from the oil sale.
Former LPRC boss Williams filed a motion seeking the court to give him separate trial from the rest of the accused on grounds that his defenses were antagonistic and could clash with those of the co-defendants.
His lawyers also argued that he did not facilitate at any time nor conspired with the other defendants to commit the crimes mentioned in the indictments.
LACC lawyer, Cllr. Othello Pitman in a resistance to the motion for severance indicated that the motion was intended to frustrate and delay the trial, adding that it would prejudice the prosecution because a substantial amount of resources would be required to prosecute the case separately, thereby depriving the prosecution the opportunity to establish a conspiratorial link between the defendants and the other defendants.
Following the arguments, the court ruled and awarded the defendant separate trial, claiming that having carefully perused the indictment the defendant’s defense was surely antagonistic to the other co-defendants.
Weeks after the Supreme Court denied state prosecutor’s request to reverse the lower court decision for separate trial.
Though during the granting of the motion of separate trial, Judge Paye said the granting of the motion was not a ground of acquittal, but today the judge would decide if defendant Williams would be acquitted or still be indicted to face prosecution.
The court’s decision today followed a motion to dismiss indictment against him and quash out the charges, claiming that the indictment was filled with gross procedural errors.
On the other hand the prosecution filed a resistance to the motion to dismiss, claiming that supportive facts in the motion were misleading and were made in bad faith because the report used to indict the defendant with the crimes mentioned knowingly, intentionally and purposely creating an opportunity for the co-defendants to deprive the people of Liberia of millions of United States Dollars.