MONROVIA; The former Solicitor-General of Liberia, Cllr. Sayma Syrenius Cephus, has recommended that “for the good of the nation, it would be prudent and expedient if the government can appoint a “Special Independent Counsel” (SIC) to earnestly work with the Liberia National Police (LNP), to investigate both the Charloe Musu bloody murder and the US$100m cocaine importation saga.
According to Cllr. Cephus, heinous crimes are being committed in the country and are being investigated by the Liberia National Police (LNP), but the Minister of Justice, Cllr. Frank Musah Dean, is “withholding all of the reports.”
“The murderer of Charloe Musu would have been arrested, prosecuted, and perhaps convicted and sentenced by now if Liberia had not had an all-knowing Justice Minister heading our criminal justice system,” said the former Solicitor General of Liberia, in an Article, styled: “POSTMORTERM ANALYSIS OF THE US$100m COCAINE CASE: Why The Gov’t Must Arrest and Prosecute The Actual Culprit –Part I.”
“It is quite interesting to note that these horrific events are taking place at a time when President George Manneh Weah’s name is expected to be on the ballot for the October 2023 elections,” Cephus said in the Article.
According to the world-class Lawyer, although one cannot say for sure what actually is the motive or what is the meaning of shielding criminals in these critical times; the fact, however, is that there’s a conspicuous silence that is incrementally suggesting a deliberate omission, to bolster the claims in some quarters that the government is doing nothing to fight crimes.”
Cllr. Cephus: “Here again, our Minister of Justice and Attorney-General was found bunking (napping). And “like a monstrous billow, that has lifted itself, rolling on towards shore, and the noise of its tremendous roaring has been heard throughout the length and breadth of the Republic and possibly elsewhere…” , the US$100m cocaine case suddenly crashed out on the court’s dockets, with the actual culprits remaining at large, thus leaving the entire nation and its international partners scraping their heads in total disbelief. This is a serious tragedy!”
He contended that it is an open secret that Justice Minister Frank Musah Dean is fully aware, and the evidence is glaring that Bilal Ibrahim, TRH and Allegra Food Company of Brazil are the actual culprits, or to aptly put, the alleged suspects who must be arrested, investigated and possibly indicted, yet, the Justice Minister “proceeded to indict people who should have been treated as accessories either before or after the fact.”
“Again, and like the uncertainty surrounding the Charloe Musu’s murder case, the Honorable Minister of Justice wants us to believe that the US$100m worth of cocaine came to Liberia all by itself,” he added.
According to the former SG, the problem that this nation faces in the drugs war is not the “ACQUITTAL VERDICT; not why those who should have been the actual culprits were never investigated and indicted; not why the excitement of fighting the drugs war has been deflated; no far from it.
Cllr. Cephus: “The real problem is our reliance on a ‘political demagogue’ who is in love with himself; in love with the title “Minister of Justice-Attorney-General” so much that he is least concerned about the collective security of the state; careless about the sanctity of human life and value and is only interested in being called and revered as “Minister” while criminals are running riots throughout the country.
Cllr. Cephus: “How sad it is that we are being treated to a blatant malfeasance and misfeasance of the Minister of Justice who cannot win a court case but believes that the only way to keep his “job” and be called “Honorable Minister” is to ensure that nobody is arrested, nobody is prosecuted, nobody is called to account, even if a crime is committed.”
“How sad is it that the cold bloody murder case of Charloe Musu and now the US$100m cocaine are in the dustbin? Lest we forget, the primary duty of every responsible government is to protect life and property,” the former state prosecutor pointed out.
The Ex-Solicitor General believes that “there’s a complete lack of vision, complete dereliction of duty, poor judgment, connivance and collusion” at the Ministry of Justice.
However, the Government of Liberia, through the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), has expressed disappointment in the NOT GUILTY verdict in the US$100m Cocaine case.
In a statement issued in Monrovia recently, Justice Minister, Frank Musah Dean Jr., who is also Attorney General of Liberia said, the verdict “clearly undermines the collective efforts of Liberia and its international coalition to clamp down on the illegal transit of illicit drugs, using West Africa as the conduit to trade narcotics internationally from Latin America and elsewhere.”
Justice Minister Dean pointed out that for Liberia to play its role effectively in this international fight against drug trafficking, money laundering, and other crimes associated with illicit drugs transportation and sale, all three branches of the Government of Liberia (Legislature, Executive and Judiciary) must take this fight as a collective responsibility and not just the Executive.
“If the Executive through the Joint Security of the country, working in concert with their international counterparts, is ramping up the strife to apprehend and bring to book illicit drug traffickers and money launderers, our drugs laws must be ready to act in conformity with the laws and gravity of the breach of our laws,” Justice minister Dean asserted.
He maintained that it becomes “worrisome and shameful as in the case of the recent verdict, for the courts to be setting hardcore criminals free when the evidence is overwhelming in the face of international security collaboration that tracked and brought the perpetrators of this heinous crime before the law.”
“There was US$100-million worth of drugs stacked in a container that landed in Monrovia and the accused were caught red-handed attempting to take ownership of the container holding the illicit drug by attempting to bribe the businessman housing the container, yet the court through the empaneled 12 man jury said such brazen evidence didn’t warrant a gulty verdict. What more can the Joint security and the Justice Ministry do to convince the court that the law was broken,” he asked.
Minister Dean added that what is even more concerting and despicable is the fact these kinds of verdicts only lend credence to the widely held international and local perception that the Judiciary namely the courts are inherently compromised and it has again ignited the lingering debate of whether the judicial system should continue with the age-old jury trial process when there are always about the unethical practice of jury tempering during such trials.
The justice Minister said, the ruling has also brought Liberia to international ridicule. He said even more lampooning is the fact hours after the verdict and the release of the defendants by Judge A. Blamo Dixon, the four men have now absconded. He wondered why the men would flee or hide if they truly believed that they had committed no criminal offence. “This is sickening,” Justice Minister Dean declared.
