The Liberian authorities admitted on Monday that they had lost track of four men recently tried and exonerated after the seizure of 100 million dollars’ worth of cocaine, a judgment that shocked even the Minister of Justice.
A criminal court in Monrovia caused a stir on
May 18 by finding not guilty a Liberian, a Bissau-Guinean, a Portuguese and a
Lebanese man arrested in connection with the seizure, in October 2022, of 520
kilos of cocaine with an estimated value to 100 million dollars, concealed
according to the authorities in a container from Brazil.
The result of cooperation with the United
States and Brazil, it is one of the most important catches ever made in the
country.
The judgment by a popular jury was all the
more surprising as the court ordered the return to the suspects of $200,000
seized during the operation.
The case highlights the place of the West
African coasts on the drug trafficking routes from South America, to Europe in
particular. The judgment raised questions about the functioning of justice and
its exposure to corruption.
The court's decision "makes Liberia an
international laughingstock," Justice Minister Frank Musah Dean Jr said in
a statement. It "clearly undermines the collective efforts of Liberia and
its international allies to combat the illegal transit of illicit drugs, and
the use of West Africa as a conduit for international trade from Latin America
and by the way,” he said.
The four suspects, photographed in prison
uniform with their lawyers after the trial and released, have disappeared.
"They can't be found. We don't know
where they are. They fled," Information Minister Ledgerhood Rennie told
AFP, confirming the justice minister's remarks.
The defendants had attracted attention by
trying to buy the container from the businessman who owned it, the justice
minister reported. Their acquittal has sown indignation or perplexity on social
networks.
The case "accredits the widespread
perception locally and abroad of an inherent compromise in justice and the
courts", admitted the Minister of Justice.
It also prompted questions about the use of
popular juries, "while there is constant talk of the immoral practice of
bribing the jury during such trials," he wrote.
The State Department, in its report on human
rights in Liberia in 2022, notes that judges "are prone to influence
attempts and engaged in corruption".
“Lawyers and prosecutors reportedly instructed
defendants to pay bribes to obtain favourable rulings from judges, prosecutors
and jurors,” says U.S. Foreign Affairs, a lead partner from Liberia.
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