Official Reaction To Treason Verdict Sparks More Concerns-
Leafing through a garage of censures visited upon President Ellen-Johnson Sirleaf by a couple of civil society groups and other Liberians for her unhappy reactions to the treason verdict of acquittal awarded Charles Julu and Andrew Dorbor, Political Editor Sherman C. Seequeh reflects on the trail of what seems to be the President's ingrained distaste and disfavor for justice, particularly for that which is dispensed not according to her way and will, if not dictate.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's first public statement regarding the acquittal of former Armed Forces of Liberia commanders Charles Julu and Andrew Dorbor is clad in paradox and therefore provoking bitter public consternation.
Hailing in one breath the treason verdict as a product of democracy, Sirleaf in same breath made an apparent untenable analogy or copycatting; that the acquitted citizens must “go and sin no more.”
“We are troubled by the biblical assertion of President Sirleaf's quote in the print media that Julu and Dorbor or Judge Gbenewelleh should ‘Go and Sin no More,'” said the Liberia Democratic Institute in a press release yesterday.
“We find it very difficult to decipher the paradox. The Presidency is quoted as saying that the non-guilty verdict represents ‘democracy'. But LDI wonders why such an assertion? We believe that such purported assertion has the proclivity to undermine the independence of the judiciary.”
In the past two years of President Sirleaf's tenure, the Liberian public has watched two colors of the President's stride for justice in the country.
While the President speaks fondly of judicial reform both at home and abroad and lobbies for support for the reform efforts, analysts cite myriad cases at which time she demonstrated contempt and impertinence for the judiciary.
“The President is known for slighting and even rubbishing judicial edicts; and this is a great contradiction for a leader who trumpets sugar-coated rhetoric in defense for the rule of law in this country,” said Jusuah A. Mehn, Executive Director of Citizens Against Corruption and Abuse of Power CACAP.
“The first instance was seen during the House coup against Edwin Snowe, at which time President Sirleaf shunned and disparaged Supreme Court ruling which called on the then majority block of the House to reverse to the status quo ante,” the civil society leader said. “Instead of supporting the Final Arbiter of Justice to prevail in the crucial case, President Sirleaf chose to support civil disobedience by going to and delivering her Annual Message at the outlawed venue of Unity Conference Center in Virginia which was the based of the then so-called rebellious lawmakers.”
Mehn, in an exclusive interview, also recalled the dismissal of a trial judge following major ruling.
“The President is reshuffling, dismissing and switching members of the judiciary intermittently and endlessness under the guise of completing the formation of her government; but we think that is a way of keeping a firm grip on a branch of government that Constitutionally carries co-equal powers with the Executive,” the CACAP boss intimated.
“So, how can we trust the government, particularly Madam Sirleaf that there is a political will and commitment towards judicial independence?” He said.
A longtime civil society leader and political activist also recalled two instances that bring Sirleaf or her government afoul to the rule of law.
In his weekly Talking With The President, Tipoteh cited the deportation case of Mr. Chawki Kadouh of K and K Enterprises at which time the ruling of Assistant Minister for Litigation at the Ministry of Justice that Mr. Kadouh had not committed any offense warranting deportation was condemned by his supervisors and he was demoted to a post in Rivercess County.
“Another case, also in a quagmire, involves a leading businessman, Mr. George Haddad. The government detained Mr. Haddad without a charge, released him later and held his travel documents without legal justification. The actions against Messrs. Kadouh and Haddad have a negative impact on their capacities to supply rice,” Tipoteh recounted.
President Sirleaf has apparently crowned her government's distaste for litigation results going against the state with her recent statement of “go-and-sin-no-more.”
“It seems the President is fond and obsessed with the sense of issuing this statement, however the wide gaps in contrasts between circumstances that occurred when Jesus used those words and the cases occurring during her leadership,” said Mehn of CACAP.
“With these words being borrowed from Jesus used by the President in such an incomparable and mistaken manner, one can deduce why the Sirleaf government faked the coup and kept George Koukou and Julu and Dorbor behind bars for months. You remember, Ellen said those same words when Koukou, not as lucky as Julu and Dorbor to be judicially processed, was granted blanket presidential clemency.”
Unfortunately, says CACAP boss Mehn, the president's “haphazard and misplaced use of go-and-sin-no-more does not apply to Julu and Dorbor.
The Executive Director of the Center for Elections and Democracy (CENDE) agrees with Mehn.
K-Hastings Panyonnoh told Public Agenda the President's statement was untimely, unfortunate and inappropriate.
“If you critically assess the president's statement, it appears that she is not satisfied with the verdict from the court because, probably she wanted to have the opportunity to humiliate the former indictees before announcing her pardon.”
But to the contrary, the CENDE boss said, the verdict came in favor of the guiltless ordinary citizens.
“And we must applaud the effort of the court for the independent verdict brought down, which is much acceptable to the people of Liberia and the world at large,” the pro-democracy advocate said.
He urged the Liberian leader not to be hasty in making comments that disparage the images of other branches of government.
Panyonnoh observed that President Sirleaf should have asked Justice Minister Philips A.Z. Banks what he exactly meant when he said, “the judge is not competent”.
He called on the President to come forward and explain to the people of Liberia what she meant by the statement.
“Now, this is a new political dispensation; we must move from the ugly past to greater democracy pillared on a justice system that is fair, transparent and characterized by non-interference.”
President Sirleaf, in her activist days, was implicated and at one point indicted for treason, during the political leaderships of Samuel K. Doe and Charles Taylor.
In all instances, the political activist was not tried not only because she failed to submit to the judicial process, but also because she was given shield by her powerful international groups.
Both the former activist and her partners are now professedly reforming the judicial system.
In a release, the pro-democracy organization, the Liberia Democratic Institute extolled Charles Julu and Andrew Dorbor, former indictees for submitting to justice and testing the integrity of the Liberian judicial system, a situation that others absconded in times past and capitalized into international acclaim.
“LDI considers the Non-Guilty Verdict as a dawn of a new day in the history of our country's jurisprudence and one that restores the lost image and credibility of the Judicial System,” the release signed by Executive Director Dan T. Saryee asserts. “ LDI is thrilled by the high level of professionalism and transparency employed during the entire proceedings. It is amazing that for the first time in recent years that a treason accused has triumphed over the state. We are amazed by the Judiciary's display of independence in our emerging democracy.”
The LDI says “the fact that Government or the Executive felt short of substantiating her case should not be considered by her as a sign of weakness but as strength and victory for democracy and the doctrine of separation of powers as enshrined in Article 3 of the 1986 Liberian Constitution,” the LDI release noted.
“Nevertheless, LDI calls on the Justice Ministry to drop further attempt to pursue any appellate action against the former indictees as doing so will not only remind the public of the presence of the elements of the ugly past who preferred to use the canopy of their position in government to make society ungovernable and thus threatening our fledging democracy.”
In his commentary today, Dr. Tipoteh told President Sirleaf: “Now, it is up to you to institutionalize your posture to reverse the condemnation of Judge Gbenewelleh by leading government officials.”
Reporter J. Dominic Farley contributed to the story
