MONROVIA, Liberia—A man accused of trafficking women to Oman has been rearrested and detained on the directive of a local court in Monrovia nearly two weeks after he was released because prosecutors had not brought a case against him in the specified time. One of his alleged victims had told prosecutors she would no longer testify against him.
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives
In an interview with Front Page Africa/New Narratives after the release Jones Wilson Saytarkon, the accused man, the victim said she had changed her mind and would testify. Prosecutors said the victim’s statements to Front Page Africa/New Narratives that she was willing to testify against him prompted Criminal Court “A” to order defendant’s rearrest and detention.
Two other victims will also testify that Saytarkon, a schoolteacher, and a woman named Princess Samuels trafficked them to Oman in 2022. FPA/NN is concealing the women’s identities to protect them from retribution.
The victim claimed that James Jones, Saytarkon’s brother from the United States, offered her a bribe to refuse to testify. James denied the allegation. Refusal of alleged victims to testify amid allegations of bribery and coercion from families of alleged perpetrators, has dogged trafficking prosecutions in Liberia.
The court’s action has been hailed by anti-human trafficking experts as a major step in the fight against the issue.
“We are glad now that he has been rearrested,” said Princess Taire, Protection Manager of World Hope International, which has been instrumental in repatriating trafficked women to Liberia from Oman, as well as funding their shelter and mental health counseling. “He must face justice. We commend the justice system in pursuing cases of human trafficking to make sure the victims receive fair justice that will serve as a deterrent to other would-be perpetrators.”
Taire said World Hope International had conducted a series of anti-human trafficking workshops for students and teachers in the school that Saytarkon teaches, as well as for community residents. She said she “never had the face to tell the children about human trafficking” and “was highly disappointed” when Saytarkon was bailed. “We have the face now because we will teach the children in the school [about human trafficking]. We will also go in the community to teach their parents.”
The order to release Saytarkon on bail came after his defense lawyer claimed that prosecutors had not presented clear, strong, and convincing evidence about his commission of the crime and they had not tried him in the specified period of time. With the victims change of heart on testifying, Judge Roosevelt Willie, of Criminal Court A decided that the evidence was not strong, and bail should be revoked.
Liberia has not prosecuted a single human trafficking case since last May, with the Weah administration slashing the $230,000 set aside for the anti-trafficking unit in the national 2023 budget to just $15,000. Finance officials said the funds were diverted to fund the presidential and legislative elections. Only “operational funds” were left in the ministry’s account, according to Adolphus Satiah, Director of the Anti-Human Trafficking Secretariat in the Labor Ministry.
The unit has been awaiting the appointment of a Minister of Labor to restore funding for prosecutions. Cllr. Cooper Kruah, whose nomination as Justice Minister was withdawn by President Boakai more than two weeks ago, amid concerns about his integrity, formally took office on Wednesday as Labor Minister. As Kruah settles into his new role, Saytarkon is one of the first people he could prosecute, with antitrafficking experts fearing the defendant could be regranted a bail by the court to avoid prolonging his detention without trying him.
The same could apply to James Warner Jacobs, another alleged trafficker, who has been behind bars for more than a month without a trial. A highly placed source in the prosecutors’ office who was not permitted to speak to the press, said a grand jury will convene soon to weigh the strengh of prosecutors’ evidence before agreeing on an indictment against Jacobs.
Liberia has performed well in the last few years in the annual U.S. Trafficking in Person reports. The country moved off a watchlist that could lead to a cut in U.S. aid. But antitrafficking experts feared the country’s gains could be rolled back and the country will end up back on the watchlist.
“I’m seriously worried about Liberia’s ranking,” said Taire. “He [Kruah]needs to lobby with the legislature to allocate funds for this[prosecution]. He also needs to work with partners to help buttress the efforts of the ministry.”
As Kruah begins work, antitrafficking advocates will be pushing for the fast tracking of prosecutions of trafficking cases compiled by prosecutors. They will also be pushing to see assets of convicted traffickers, including Arthur Chan-Chan, an ex-agent of the National Security Agency (NSA), are confiscated to pay restitution to victims. Advocates say such a move could energize other alleged victims to come forward and testify against their alleged perpetrators.
This story is a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the “Investigating Liberia” project. Funding was provided by the U.S. Embassy in Liberia. The funder had no say in the story’s content.
