Africa-Press – Liberia. .
To make disclosure of all evidence on Tweah, co-defendants
Judge Blamo A. Dixon of Criminal Court ‘C’ has given the government a 72-hour deadline to release evidence in its possession to be used against former Finance Minister Samuel Tweah and his co-defendants in the alleged economic sabotage case
This ultimatum follows after Judge Dixon observed that prosecution has been involved with activities that continue to delay the trial.
“The prosecution is given 72 hours to produce the evidence to the defense team and to start the case within the 72 hours,” Judge Dixon said to his ultimatum.
Over the last weeks, the judge had been compelled to postpone the trial, on the basis of excuses prosecutors were attending workshops and or other ‘important’ case obligations.
It was the many excuses and the prosecution’s perceived unpreparedness that triggered Dixon’s decision on Wednesday.
However, Dixon also denied the prosecution’s contestation of the defendants’ US$8 million property valuation bond, alleging insufficiency. His decision set the stage for the commencement of the trial, though Dixon did not give a specific date for the resumption of the matter. It is also not clear whether the prosecution will abide by the ultimatum.
Immediately after denying the prosecution’s argument, Judge Dixon cited Article 21 of the 1986 Constitution, which says, “All accused persons shall be bailable upon their personal recognizance or by sufficient sureties, depending upon the gravity of the charge, unless charged for capital offenses or grave offenses as defined by law. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor excessive punishment inflicted.”
The article also provides that “every person suspected or accused of committing a crime shall immediately upon arrest be informed in detail of the charges, of the right to remain silent and of the fact that any statement made could be used against him in a court of law. Such person shall be entitled to counsel at every stage of the investigation and shall have the right not to be interrogated except in the presence of counsel. Any admission or other statements made by the accused in the absence of such counsel shall be deemed inadmissible as evidence in a court of law.”
Tweah, along with Cllr. Nyenati Tuan, then Acting Minister of Justice and Acting Chairman of the National Joint Security; Stanley Ford, former Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA) Director General & member Joint Security Council; and D. Moses P. Cooper, former Comptroller, FIA, in the discharge of their duties as officials of the National Joint Security of Liberia and the Financial Intelligence Agency, did conspire, collude, facilitate and commit the Crime of Economic Sabotage (Fraud on the internal revenue of Liberia; Misuse of Public Money, Property or Record and Theft and/ or illegal disbursement and expenditure of public money), the court document alleged.
The court document also alleges that, between September 8-21, 2023, from transfer instruction documents submitted to the LACC Investigation by the CBL, it shows that the total amounts transferred to the Operational accounts of the FIA by the CBL as per the instruction from the MFDP are L$1,055,152,540.00 and US$500,000.00.
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