Liberia: Ex-leader acquitted

  1. Posted on Saturday 2 May 2009 - 10:37
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    Henry Flomo, AfricaNews reporter in Monrovia, Liberia
    Former Liberian leader Charles Gyude Bryant has been set free by a Criminal Court on charges of economic sabotage and theft of property. The chairman of the National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL) was acquitted late Thursday following months of legal battle against the State.
    liberia map
    Chairman Bryant declared minutes following the verdict: "I feel good, I feel good but I feel sorry for our country, that’s all."

    The former Liberian leader was handed freedom along with four other officials of his regime at the Temple Justice in Monrovia. Former Liberia Petroleum Refinery Corporation (LPRC) Managing Director Edwin Swone and his deputy Richard Devine, Comptroller Siaka Sheriff and Special Assistant Andy Quame were also found not guilty after being accused of embezzling closed to a million US dollars from the corporation.

    After 135 days of legal argument into the much publicized US$ 927,000 economic sabotage, criminal conspiracy, bribery and theft of property case the Grand Jury handed down the not guilty verdict amidst jubilation by supporters including family members and well-wishers.

    Meanwhile, Chairman Bryant has got another round of court proceeding, this time relating an ECOWAS audit report the Sirleaf government says implicates him and two other members of his regime - former Finance Minister Lusene Kamara and his deputy Tugbeh Doe. Along with Bryant, they have already pleaded not guilty of the charges.

    The marathon legal proceeding as well as the pending one is being described by many as a landmark case giving it is the first time a current Liberian administration is prosecuting its predecessor for alleged crimes against the state.

    The former NTGL Chairman guarded the election that brought to power Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in 2005. But the current leadership soon dragged the Chairman and his cohorts to court citing an ECOWAS audit report and documentations that the Justice Ministry said implicated Bryant and his administration.

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