The Office of the War and Economic Crimes Court of Liberia says some CSOs have grouped themselves as side track by manifesting unsolicited ignorance of how a criminal justice system works.
Monrovia, June 24, 2024: The office of the War & Economic Crimes Court of Liberia has trashed as unsolicited ignorance some civil society organizations’ suggestion that Cllr. Jonathan T. Massaquoi is unqualified to head the office.
On Sunday, June 23, 2024, the office said a group of civil society organizations based its argument on Cllr. Massaquoi’s representation of Madam Agnes Reeves Taylor during her trial for war crimes in the United Kingdom.
The release countered assertions by a group under the aegis of the Coalition for the Establishment of War and Economic Crimes Courts in Liberia and the Human Rights Community of Liberia.
The office of the War & Economic Crimes Court of Liberia said the key argument these civil society organizations proffered is that Cllr. In a Finnish Court, Massaquoi also represented a war crimes indictee from Sierra Leone, Mr. Gebril Massaquoi.
The office said the group of civil society organizations accused Cllr. Massaquoi instituted multiple lawsuits against human rights defenders and institutions that had been the lead campaigners for the establishment of the war crimes court for many years.
“The Office of the War and Economic Crimes Court is concerned that the argument has the propensity to sidetrack the efforts being made by the country to break away from the culture of impunity and institute justice and accountability,” the release said.
It noted that strives have been made to bring closure to Liberia’s belligerent past, thus setting the country on the trajectory of adherence to the rule of law.
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However, it was also observed that “these very few individuals have set themselves up as sidetrack by manifesting unsolicited ignorance of how a criminal justice system both locally and internationally works to include the role of lawyers.”
The office provided a counter to the allegations to create clarity in the minds of the majority of Liberians, who sincerely and overwhelmingly welcomed the establishment of the Office of the War and Economic Crimes Courts in Liberia.
The office cited Article 21(i) of the 1986 Constitution, which states that “the right to counsel and the rights of counsel shall be inviolable.”
Based on the constitutional provision, the office noted that no lawyer should be prevented from or punished for providing legal services, regardless of the charges against or the guilt of his client.
It added that no lawyer shall be barred from practice for political reasons.
Today, we hear Human Rights Advocates, who should be moral guarantors of the Constitution of Liberia in protecting the fundamental rights of all citizens … petitioning the Government of Liberia to openly violate Article 21 (1)…,” the release said.
The office accuses civil society organizations of seeking self-aggrandizement and appeasement rather than on the merits of any moral and ethical breach.
“The Office of War & Economic Crimes Court submits that the legal profession is the only profession/vocation that is constitutionally protected and, as such, no government can sanction or reprimand any lawyer for performing his/her constitutional duty,” it told the civil society group.
Moreover, the office said all criminal defendants have a right to a lawyer of his/her choice in a criminal case, thus creating a lawyer-client relationship in which no government agency or court of law can deprive a lawyer of holding public office.
It indicated that lawyers are not party to a case, citing precedents under Liberia’s criminal justice system and the international criminal justice system that allude to that fundamental principle.
The Office of War and Economic Crimes Court noted that on February 12, 2021, Mr. Karim Ahmad Khan was elected the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Before his election, Mr. Khan between 2006 and 2007 served as the lead defense counsel to former President, Charles Ghankay Taylor, and Mrs. Fatou Sankoh, wife of Foday Sankoh before the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL).
Second, the office narrated that the current Associate Justice of the Federal Supreme Court of the United States of America, Her Honor Ketanji Brown Jackson, was a defense counsel for inmates at Guantanamo Bay.
The inmates in question were charged with terrorism and other heinous crimes by the United States of America.
Having successfully represented those defendant’s legal interests, the office argued that today, Justice Jackson sits on the Supreme Court of the United States of America.
To accept the “faulty logic of these civil society organizations that Cllr. Massaquoi is unqualified and compromised could equally mean that the Chief Prosecutor of the International Crime Court, Mr. Karim Ahmad Khan, and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson are equally unqualified to occupy their current offices.
“The Office of The War & Economic Crimes Court of Liberia wishes to state unequivocally that its Executive Director, Cllr. Jonathan T. Massaquoi is not conflicted by any stretch of the imagination,” it noted.
He noted that Cllr. Massaquoi has demonstrated outstanding ethical and professional qualities over his 15 years of legal practice.
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