Monrovia – The trial involving those indicted in connection to the alleged corruption scandal outlined in the 2015 Global Witness Report may commence mid-December but with a new phenomenon – allowing cameras in court for television and live streaming.
First of its kind in Liberia and currently contrary to rules governing courts of Liberia, the intent of allowing cameras in court, as being negotiated with the court, is allow the public – both locally and internationally – watch the trial in real time to ensure transparent justice during the course of the trial.
The disclosure was made to FrontPageAfrica during an exclusive interview with head of the Special Presidential Task Force, Cllr. Fonati Koffa over the weekend.
“That is a part of transparent justice, the jury themselves will be aware that the public is watching, the international community is watching live.”
“When the trial is going on you’ll be able to go on the task force’s website and watch the trial and watch it on national television.
This case is so monumental and important to justice in Liberia that we will be petitioning the court to allow this process,” Cllr. Koffa told FrontPageAfrica.
We Know ‘Big Boys 1 & 2’
“We know who they are, I’m not sure FrontPage Africa exclusive interview is the place for us to reveal that. What we’re hoping is that the next time we announce a round of indictment we will also announce Big Boy 1 & 2, but we already know who they are,” Cllr. Koffa asserted.
‘Big Boy 1 & 2’ were mentioned in the Global Witness 2015 Report to have allegedly received US$250,000 each from Sable Mining to influence changes in the Public Procurement Concession Commission (PPCC) Act to favor the company’s acquisition of the Mount Wologizi concession.
The pair has remained unnamed since the release of the report. Global Witness in a response to a request of disclosure said it was up to the Government of Liberia to find out who they are.
Change in Trial Strategy
According to Cllr. Koffa, there has been a change in the trial strategy which was prompted by the fillings of several motions by the first batch of indictees.
This, according him, has delayed the trial.
“We have changed our trial strategy because of the long delay of appeals at the Supreme Court; we are proceeding with those already indicted as soon as the Court comes down.”
“The other group – it is likely that everyone remaining will be indicted. We are convening a grand jury… and we will go to the grand jury and it is likely that the remaining names in the report will be indicted.
“What we are doing as a matter of trial strategy is that the group that would be indicted next term of court will not be tried with this group, they will be tried separately because the problem you run into is once you indict this group they start to file their motions and we will have to go through the same process of delay,” the Presidential taskforce head told FrontPage Africa.
Koffa emphasized that the charges pressed against those named in the report have not been dropped. However, according to him, the prosecution remains open for plea bargains where charges are reduced in exchange for less punishment in exchange of admission of guilt.
“We have talked to the defendants; they’ve not indicated to us that they’re prepared to do that.”
“Whenever they are ready we’re open and ready to talk. But far as we are concerned, we are proceeding with this case on the indictment as charged,” he added.
He added that Sable Mining remains indicted that the evidence against them are consistent, clear and cogent and a mutual legal assistance agreement was being developed to ensure that the British Government assists the Taskforce in bringing the corporation and the named individuals that are not under Liberia’s jurisdiction to justice.
“If you do your research on bribery cases, you will find out that this is one of the few times there is a very excellent paper trail of evidence because you know bribery being a criminal act that involves government officials and sometimes private parties like in the case here is usually not put on paper, there is usually no discoverable email trail, it’s usually by word of mouth. In this case we have more than one material witness and then we have documentary evidence that backs up the testimony,” Koffa averred.
The Major Challenge
The Special Presidential Task Force head said his major challenge in the execution of his duties had been the grip the powerful people indicted have on the media.
“The major challenge of the task force since it was formulated is corruption fighting back. Powerful people with money who have a lot of media infiltration have the ability to frame the issues in a way that the taskforce with its limited budget cannot.”
“We have to depend on the ability of the media to see the issue of the fight on corruption juxtaposed against the massive amount of money that is being spent against us,” he noted.
“The root cause of corruption is in ourselves and so what we try to do is to institutionalize the mechanism to prevent it.”
“All human being have flaws, even me sitting here – you know my story. What prevents us from indulging ourselves from the greater excesses of human nature is the system we put in place that is a deterrent.
It doesn’t matter who put that system in place, it matters that system becomes a system of laws that regardless of who he [perpetrator] is, he’ll be accountable and subjective to the law,” Cllr. Koffa said.
Report by Lennart Dodoo|+231 777 788 805|[email protected]