Kakata, Margibi County – The 13th Judicial Circuit Court for Margibi County sitting in its August Term 2016 Term of Court has dropped an action for damages for wrong against the Government of Liberia.
The damages claim was made to the court during the August 2016 Term by lawyers representing the legal interest of Korean nationals Chae Dae Byoung, Choi Jung Woo, Chakwang Woon and the Aleck Gold who accused state security officers of wrongful arrest and taking away their money in the sum of US$247,000.00
Judge Peter Gbeneweleh’s ruling handed down recently comes amid a motion for judgment of acquittal filed by lawyers representing the Government of Liberia.
The Government of Liberia represented by the Ministry of Justice filed the motion for judgment of acquittal during trial after the Korean nationals’ lawyers rested the production of evidence in the case.
The government’s lawyers contended in the motion that it was entitled to judgment of acquittal as the matter of law because lawyers representing the Koreans did not produce evidence to lead or impute liability to the Government of Liberia.
The state lawyers contended that the Korean nationals actually delivered or made payment at the hotel to the seller of the gold and were no longer in the possession of the money they already paid to their seller in the hotel and the seller of the of the gold made arrangement with some officers of the National Security Agency (NSA) to rob them of their money.
“Movants say the Dean Jallah Committee’s Report which was submitted in evidence concluded that officers of the NSA who effected the arrest, Mr Nasser Aly, Ousman Bangura and Cassell Kouh should be held liable for the conspiracy to defraud the Korean nationals of their properties including the amount of US$247,500.00,” said the state lawyers motion noted.
However, in their resistance, lawyers for the Koreans argued for the court not to award the state the judgment of acquittal as the Civil Procedure Law section 26.2 provides for the judgment of acquittal during trial was not applicable in the case.
The Korean nationals’ lawyers contended that the grounds and averments contained in the motion do not meet the minimum statutory requirements for granting the said motion for reason that the motion for acquittal can only be granted at any time in a case on the basis of admission and in the instant case there has been no admission.
“The NSA officers who affected the arrest, Terrance Doe, Alexander Graham, Railey Farley and two other employees/agents of the Government of Liberia who affected the unlawful arrest of the Koreans,” said the Korean lawyers.
Following the pros and cons of the argument Judge Gbeneweleh ruled that the state’s motion of judgment of acquittal met the minimum requirement of section 26.2 of the Civil Procedure Law of Liberia.
Judge Gbenewelh continued that the court holds that the Government of Liberia could not be held liable for the criminal conduct of the five NSA officers who effected the arrest for their criminal conduct for which the Presidential Committee recommended the prosecution and that of the restitution is also provided by our law of the said amount if they were found guilty in the court of competent jurisdiction.
“Wherefore and in view of the foregoing, it is the ruling of the court that the motion for judgment during trial is hereby granted and the resistance therefore denied, the defendant is not liable to the plaintiff/Koreans in these proceedings and it is hereby ordered,” said Judge Gbeneweleh.
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