Monrovia- Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) personnel Melvin Tolbert who resigned from the army recently will spend his first night out of the Edward Binyah Kesselly Barrack detention center Thursday, where he has been detained for the past 22-days.
The AFL personnel was ordered released to the Sheriff of Montserrado County Wednesday by the Presiding Judge of the Criminal Court “A” at the Temple of Justice, Boima Kontoe at the end of a hearing in the writ of habeas corpus.
His release late Wednesday evening at the Criminal Court “A” was greeted with smiles by friends and family members who have been waiting in the court room during the last two days to witness the hearing of a writ of habeas filed on his behalf.
The writ was filed by the legal counsel for the detained AFL personnel Cllr. Charles Abdullai who prayed the court to order the release of Tolbert as his detention beyond the 48 hours was a violation of his constitutional rights under the 1986 Constitution.
During argument in the writ Wednesday one of the counsels for the detained, Cllr. Arthur Johnson told the court that the AFL did not have any Court Marshall Board to prosecute any soldier therefore the detention of his client in a military facility was illegal.
He continued that if the AFL is to have a Uniformed Code of Military Justice or Court Marshall that needs to be done by an act of the National Legislature.
“If a Court Marshall is established by the AFL this will be done by an act of the National Legislature therefore the AFL don’t have the right to detain someone for 22 days” said Cllr. Johnson.
Contrary to report that Tolbert was not detained but confined in the barrack, Cllr. Johnson indicated that Tolbert was detained in the dark room and not confined in the barrack as alleged by AFL authority.
Cllr. Johnson continued that there was no need for the AFL authority to arrest and detain Tolbert when he served the force for five years and resigned based on the contract he signed when he got enlisted in the AFL.
According to Cllr. Johnson, Tolbert’s resignation from the AFL was first based on the end of his five -year contract signed with the force and secondly he got wounded from a grenade blast during training and when he informed the AFL authority to seek medical attention abroad based on doctor advice no one paid any attention adding that the AFL wanted Tolbert to stay there and die.
Contrary to his argument the Legal Officer of the Ministry of Defense Wilfred Saryeh told the court that Tolbert has not resigned and that he was still an AFL soldier as the law requires that personnel of the AFL resign honorably to be given a package and not in the form and manner in which Tolbert did.
“The AFL is not step in and step out organization, this guy deserted the force and took up assignment with the Liberia Revenue Authority” said Cllr. Sayeh while pointing at the defendant in the dock.
He stated that AFL personnel Tolbert was not in detention as reported but he was rather confined in the barrack and ordered not to leave.
Judge Kontoe promised to rule on the matter on Friday June 24, 2016 at 1:00 pm and later ordered the detained AFL personnel released to the Sherriff of Montserrado County until Friday.
Armed Forces of Liberia 2SGT Tolbert is being charged and detained for Absence Without Leave (AWOL) allegedly for 22 days at Edward Binyah Kesselly Barrack by the Ministry of Defense but his lawyer says his detention by the ministry when he has resigned is a violation of his right.
Kennedy L. Yangian [email protected]