Liberian Justice Minister Dismisses Court Ruling As ’disappointing’

Liberia’s Minister of Justice Philip Banks has on Tuesday condemned as ‘disappointing’ the verdict of the Criminal Court ‘A’ in the treason case in which the accused persons; Charles Julu and Andrew Dorbor were set free.

The Criminal Court ‘A’ Friday acquitted former Armed Forces of Liberia General Charles Julu and Colonel Andrew Dorbor of the charge of treason.

In his ruling, the presiding judge, Peter Geweneweleh said the prosecution failed miserably to prove any element of treason against Dorbor and Julu, and that there were ‘discrepancies and contradictions’ in the testimonies of state witnesses.

But in his reaction in an interview with APA on Tuesday, Justice Minister Banks said the judgment demonstrates the judge’s ‘incompetence’ as a judge, and vowed that the government would gather more evidence to pursue the treason case against Julu and Dorbor.

The two former Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) officials were charged with treason for allegedly plotting to overthrow the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf-led government.

Last December, the jury empaneled by the Criminal Court ‘A’ then under the jurisdiction of Judge Milton Taylor, found Julu and Dorbor guilty of treason, but the judge called for a retrial after defense lawyers claimed that the jurors were bribed to pass the verdict.

Source African Press Agency

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