Africa-Press – Liberia. The Monrovia City Court on Friday, June 13, 2025 ruled on a “prima facie” case against former Speaker Fonati Koffa, Representatives Dixon Seboe (District #16, in Montserrado County), Abu Kamara (District #15, Montserrado County), and Jacob Debee (District #3, Grand Gedeh County) — meaning the prosecution presented enough evidence to suggest they (lawmakers) were involved in the December arson attack on the Capitol Building. Still, the case is not yet proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
The court did not necessarily rule that the lawmakers were guilty; instead, it determined the evidence was sufficient to proceed with the trial.
“Prima Facie” Defined
In legal terms, a “prima facie” case means the prosecution has presented evidence that, if uncontradicted, would be sufficient to prove the defendant’s guilt.
Not a Final Decision
It is not a final judgment of guilt. It simply means the evidence is strong enough to require the defendant to respond and present their defense.
The burden of proof then shifts to the defendant to challenge the evidence and/or present their own evidence to prove their innocence.
Significance of the Ruling
The ruling allows the trial to proceed as the prosecution has met the minimum requirement of presenting a case worth investigating.
The defendant will now have an opportunity to present their defense and potentially rebut the prosecution’s case.
Since the ruling is not a final determination of guilt, the court’s final verdict will be based on all the evidence presented throughout the trial.
In his ruling, Magistrate Ben Barco said state witnesses were corroborative in describing events leading up to the burning of the Capitol Building, “such that they also described the role each of the defendants played in the conspiracy,” Magistrate Barco said.
Role of each of the defendants
According to Magistrate Barco, defendant Dixon Seboe is particularly named as the person who took the conspiracy to the effect that he recruited and manipulated a person to burn the Joint Chamber of the Capitol Building and thereafter facilitated their escape.
Whereas Defendant Abu Kanara, as one of the financiers of the plot, was accused of having recruited people he referred to as “actors to help in the burning of the Capitol,” Barco’s ruling noted.
Meanwhile, Prosecution witnesses narrated the role of Defendant J. Fonati Koffa as one of the financiers behind the plot, according to the ruling.
“They also accused Koffa of being aware of the burning of the Capitol even before the incident, as he was part of a chat room where the plot was hatched,” the ruling added.
For Defendant Jacob Debbee, Magistrate Barco said, he is said to have been aware of the plot by listening to the conversation regarding the same, but took no action either before or after the incident to inform law enforcement authority, which inaction defines his complicity.
“These narratives are sufficient grounds to establish probable cause,” Barco maintained. “Therefore, it is in the holding of this Court that persecution has established a prima facie case. Such that Defendants can be held to further answer to the crimes as charged.”
The allegations in this complaint are that the defendants, through telephone conversations and other means, criminally connived, conspired, sponsored, and purchased explosives, including gasoline, which were used to set ablaze the Joint Chambers of the Capitol Building, Housing the Liberian Legislature, on December 18, 2024, thereby causing damage to the said Joint Chambers at a cost of over US$1.8 million.
The complaint further alleges that before the December 18 incident, and in the aftermath of the riots, defendants brutally attacked or caused a police officer to be attacked and left unconscious. They also confiscated his gun and converted same into their personal use.
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