TUBMANBURG, Bomi – Amid the defense team’s request to reduce the police presence, Judge William Sando has suspended proceedings in the human trafficking case involving 14 Liberian girls due to an incomplete jury.
Sando said the court currently had only 12 persons, short of the empaneled jury of 15 persons needed to continue with the proceedings.
He has instructed the sheriff of the court to search and bring six prospective jurors to court on Monday, from which three will be selected.
Abbas El Debes, Richard Dickson Tamba, Bashir Lakis, Ghazi Bashar and Hayah Debes were charged with the crimes of illicit trafficking in human beings, migrant smuggling, gang rape and criminal conspiracy by the Republic of Liberia.
El Debes was the only one of the alleged criminals apprehended, and he is being tried separately.
El Debes’s defense team has meanwhile informed the court that they received information from reliable sources that the prosecution team is bent on intimidating court officers, the defendant, and defense lawyers. They say that that the situation is not healthy for the speedy trial of their client.
Attorney Arthur Tamba Johnson, representing the defense, told the court that the case involving their client was not an armed robbery, treason or mercenary case to warrant the large presence of both the Police Support Unit and Emergency Response Unit of the Liberian National Police.
Attorney Arthur Tamba Johnson. Photo: Zeze Ballah
Johnson said his client’s blood pressure rises every time he sees the huge presence of LNP officers on the premises of the court.
“The court did not ask the LNP officers to be on its premises and as such, the defense counsel of Abbas El Debes also feels intimidated by their presence,†Johnson said.
The defense previously claimed that El Debes suffers from hypertension, in a motion to relocate him to Monrovia. That motion was denied by the judge.
Abbas El Debes is being held at Tubmanburg Central Prison. Photo: Zeze Ballah
One of the state prosecutors, Jurna P. Karnley, said the police presence on the court’s premises is not meant to intimidate anyone but to protect witnesses.
Karnley said the LNP officers had in no way interfered with the proceedings, and there had been no complaints filed with the court of any threats or abuses carried out by LNP officers.
“The defense counsel is fabricating or pretending to halt or delay the proceedings,†Karnley added.
Judge Sando said an investigation will be launched into the defendant’s claim on Sept. 14.
Feature photo: Zeze Ballah
