Monrovia – FrontPageAfrica has reliably learnt that the Chief Prosecutor of the Presidential Task Force Cllr. Daku Mulbah has left the country for South Africa with the aim of scouting for additional evidence against those indicted by the Task Force.
Report by Kennedy L. Yangian – [email protected]
The Task Force chief prosecutor is reported to have departed the country on Tuesday for South Africa but sources closed to the taskforce told FrontPageAfrica that his presence in that country is intended to scout for additional evidence against those indicted by the Task Force for bribery including House Speaker Alex Tyler and Grand Cape Mount Senator Varney Sherman, Richard Tolbert E.C.B. Jones, Christopher Onanuga and British national, Andrew Grove.
The six defendants who are expected to go on trial during the August 2016 Term of Court which kicked off on Monday, August 8, 2016 across the country are charged with bribery, economic sabotage, criminal conspiracy, facilitation & solicitation.
The Grand Jury of Montserrado County indicted the officials after the British NGO Global Witness May 2016 Report on Liberia accused them of receiving bribes in the tune of US$950,000 to change the Public Procurement Concession Commission’s Act to grant a concession agreement to a British Company Sable Mining to mine the Wologizi Mine in Lofa County.
This is the second time for prosecutors of the taskforce to leave the country in search of evidence against the indictees as their first visit was in London where the Task Force prosecutors returned with a boast that they were in possession of 99 pieces of evidence against the defendants.
Chief Prosecutor Cllr. Mulbah who is also the County Attorney of Montserrado County departure from the country comes in the wake of a second motion filed by lawyers of indicted House Speaker Tyler for the prosecution to disclose and let him have access to the evidence the prosecution has in its possession against him.
According to the indictment, House Speaker Tyler is accused of receiving up to US$75,000 from the Sable Mining in his capacity as House Speaker to amend the PPCC Act.
But House Speaker Tyler latest motion for disclosure and access to evidence pending before the Criminal Court “C” at the Temple of Justice for hearing indicated that he along with other defendants were indicted for the alleged commission for the crimes of bribery, criminal conspiracy, solicitation and facilitation which case is pending before the court but asked the court to take judicial notice of the case file.
Defendant Tyler lawyers indicated that Section 17.2 of the Criminal Procedure Law captions, pretrial examination of books and records provides that the court on motion may direct that books, papers, documents or other things designated in a subpoena duces tecum be produced before the court at the time prior to the trial or time when they are to be offered in evidence and may upon production thereof to be examined and copies be made by the parties and their attorneys.
“Wherefore and in view of the foregoing defendant Tyler prays your honor to grant movant’s motion and order the prosecution to produce all the evidence in its possession for the prosecution of the case out of which this motion grows, allow defendant to make or produce copies of same and grant unto movant any other and further relief that your honor may deem legal”, said the motion signed by Cllr. Johnny Momoh and others.
However, state lawyers are yet to file a possible resistance to the movant’s motion for disclosure and access to evidence though they have three days under the law to file their resistance to the movant’s motion file on August 4, 2016.