Monrovia – Criminal Court “C” judge says he’s reviewing the criminal appearance bond of two detained Central Bank of Liberia officials.
Report by Kennedy L. Yangian [email protected]
But FrontPgeAfrica has observed that lawyers of the defendants are becoming edgy.
The team of lawyers representing former CBL Governor Milton Weeks and Charles Sirleaf, CBL Deputy Executive Governor for Operations, has planned to hold a major press conference on Friday, March 8, a source close to the counsels disclosed Thursday.
The lawyers are expected to highlight issues surrounding the bond filed for the release of their clients, who have been held at the Monrovia Central Prison since Monday.
“We have filed our bonds to release our clients which is the right of the defendants under the law for bailable offenses since Tuesday, March 5, 2019, and since then the court is unable to pass on it,” said a lawyer, who requested not to be named.
When contacted about the bond, which was filed Tuesday, March 5, Presiding Judge of the Criminal Court “C” Boima Kontoe confirmed receiving the bond but added that he is still reviewing it.
It is, however, unknown how long it will take for the Judge to complete the revision.
According to some legal luminaries, the court needs three days to authenticate a bond and determining whether it is sufficient or not.
Sirleaf was arrested along with Dorbor Hagba also of the CBL while the pair was at work on Thursday, February 28.
Weeks was later arrested on Friday, March 1, while Richard Walker, Director for Operations, and Joseph Dennis, Deputy Director for Internal Audit, were also arrested and detained at the Monrovia Central Prison.
They were then indicted by the Grand Jury of Montserrado County for multiple crimes including economic sabotage and misappropriation of public funds following the released reports of two separate investigations into the missing L$16 billion. If found guilty of economic sabotage, a felony of the first degree which is in violation of Chapter 15, sub-chapter “F” Sections 15.81 (a) (b) (c) and 15.82 (b)(c) of the New Penal Law of Liberia, the five CBL executives are to spend 10 years in a common jail.