Monrovia – Criminal Court ‘A’ Judge Roosevelt Z. Willie has summoned officials of the Ministry of Justice to a conference to provide amicable solution for the release of eight Ivorian nationals who have been illegally detained at the Monrovia Central Prison for eight years without trial.
Those summoned are Frank Musa Dean, Minister of Justice, Sayma Syrennius Cephus, Solicitor General, and Edwin Klar Martin, Montserrado County Attorney.
They are to appear on Tuesday, September 8, 2020 at 1:30PM in the judge’s chamber at the Criminal Court ‘A’.
Others invited to witness the conference are Mr. Cosmas Chanda, Country Director of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Mr. Fetus R. Logan, Executive Director of the Liberia Refugees Repatriation and Resettlement Commission(LRRRC), and the defendants’ lawyer Cllr. Amara Sheriff.
Excerpt of the summon reads: ” The purpose of the meeting is to discuss and come out with an amicable solution as we previously discussed in 2019 for the release of eight Ivorian Refugees who are presently behind bars at the Monrovia Central Prison(MCP) for the past eight years without being extradited to their country of origin, the Ivory Coast.”
Judge Willie’s decision to summon prosecution was based on a writ of Habeas Corpus filed to the court by the defendants’ lawyer Cllr. Amara Sheriff, requesting the court to dismiss the indictment and release his clients from detention.
According to Cllr. Sheriff, the defendants have been illegally detained at the central prison for eight years without trial, something he described as a “gross violation of their human rights”.
Cllr. Sheriff added that the Criminal Procedure Law (CPL) of Liberia provides that when a defendant or defendants are not tried within 30 days, the defendant (s) can move the court to dismiss the case through a writ of Habae Corpus, which he has filed to the court.
Also, Chapter 18.2 of the CPL states that a court shall dismiss a complaint against a defendant or defendants who are indicted and not tried during two successful terms of court after the finding(s) of the indictment.
However, the defendants are still behind bars after State lawyers have since failed and refused to try the defendants for eight years, since their incarceration at the central prison.
They are languishing behind bars in destitute, with no hope to be tried or release by the government of Liberia, and send back to their country or a third world country for safety.
The defendants, Komande Mohegnan, Vakery Nemlin, Rerik Anbtiube, Frank Oliver Nioule, Junior Nioule, Edward O. Nioule, Julien Badison Toure and Blao Nocaise were set free in July 2019 by Judge Willie after state prosecutors failed to produce sufficient evidence to convict them.
They were arrested in Grand Gedeh County after they had allegedly escaped the Ivory Coast for the alleged commission of the crimes of murder, theft of property, rape, and Arson leveled against them by the Ivorian government.
After their arrest and subsequent detention at the central prison, the Ivorian Government then requested the Liberian government to extradite them to face prosecution for the alleged crimes.
During the hearing of the case at the Monrovia City Court, Magistrate J. Kennedy Peabody ruled and granted the Republic of Ivory Coast’s request through the Liberian Government to extradite the eight Ivorians to face trial.
Magistrate Peabody’s ruling was based on an Extradition Treaty signed between the governments of Liberia and the Ivory Coast on August 24, 1972, and ratified on January 18, 1973.
Following Magistrate Peabody’s ruling, the defendants’ lawyer, Cllr. Amara Sheriff took an appeal to the Criminal Court ‘A’ to set aside Magistrate Peabody’s ruling, and make a further determination into the case.
During the hearing of the case at the Criminal Court ‘A’, Judge Willie ruled that the defendants be released due to the failure of the requesting state (Ivory Coast) to take seize of the defendants within the period provided for under the Criminal Procedure Law.
However, after his (Judge Willie) ruling into the case, state lawyers interpose no objection when the defendants’ lawyer moved for the extradition to be dismissed and have the defendants released.
Two weeks after they were released and turnover to the LRRRC and UNHCR to be taken to a third world country, state lawyers again filed a motion requesting the court to rescind its previous ruling that cleared the defendants of extradition.
In the prosecution’s motion to rescind the judgment, state lawyers argued that they do not have a problem with the release of the defendants but that the issue of national security and the interest of the Republic of Liberia were not taken into consideration during the legal proceedings.
Judge Willie then ruled: “Accordingly, this court is inclined to rescind its ruling of June 24, 2019, dismissing the Extradition and releasing the defendants to the LRRRC and the UNHCR on the following grounds: Motion to dismiss is not the proper remedy to seek from the ruling of a magistrate or Justice of the Peace ordering the committal of a fugitive following an Extradition hearing; The motion to dismiss, which was granted the Movants/Appellants were secured in bad faith as the intent/outcome of the conferences was not to dismiss the Extradition based on the merits of the case as was spread on the minutes of the court.”
He continued: “Therefore, the ruling of June 24, 2019, is hereby rescinded based on the above-stated reasons, and the sheriff of this court is hereby ordered to re-arrest the movants/Appellants and incarcerate them at the Monrovia Central Prison.
“Meanwhile, this court having rescinded its ruling to release the Appellants hereby sound this caveat to the Liberian Government to work out the process as provided for by law to have this matter concluded; otherwise, this court will be constrained during the August Term of Court to Sua Sponte and assign the Writ of Habeas Corpus for the Government of Liberia to bring forth the defendants before the court to show cause for their continued incarceration.”
Based on Judge Willie’s ruling in the prosecution’s motion to rescind the judgment, the eight Ivorians were re-arrested and incarcerated at the Monrovia Central Prison to be re-tried.
The re-arrest and incarceration of the Ivorians agitated their lawyer, Cllr. Amara Sheriff, as he was seen roaming in the courtyard in dismay.
Speaking to FrontPageAfrica, Cllr. Sheriff said the court’s ruling was a “gross violation of their (defendants) human rights”.
He said: “My impression is, it is a total travesty of justice. Our court lacks total credibility now. The court has a public treasury to protect, that public treasury is confidence, so the confidence is eroding gradually, particularly when it comes to this ruling.
“We filed a petition for Habaes Corpus, that was heard and granted, not a motion to dismiss. The petition for Habaes corpus was filed and the state did not even resist, they interpose no objection. The state has violated the rights of the respondents,” Cllr. Sheriff lamented.