Al Karley under pressure

The Monrovia City Court has ordered a top official of the defunct National Bureau of Investigation or NBI Mr. Al Karley, to submit all evidences involving a case filed by a subordinate agent, Othello Kindawah, on claims of theft and criminal coercion.

Mr. Karley, a former deputy police director, was summoned based on Agent Kindawah’s complaint that he was coerced and his phone seized by the NBI authority following claim that he (Kindawah) had been doing some secret recordings during senior security officials’ meetings. But the Stipendiary Magistrate at the Monrovia City Court, Kennedy Peabody, told The NewDawn Monday that “We try to dismiss the case on [Section] 18.1 so that the State can re-file.”

The Magistrate contends that Mr. Karley could not seize Agent Kindawah’s phone and subsequently dismiss him without taking the matter to the Justice Ministry following the NBI’s investigation.

Magistrate Peabody has instead ordered that Mr. Karley compiles and submits all evidences, including Agent Kindawah’s phone to the Montserrado County Attorney office where further action will be determined by the Justice Ministry.

In a writ of summon dated October 23, the court ordered Mr. Karley’s appearance after Agent Kindawah alleged that the accused took away his LG Mobile phone valued US$175 since September 16, 2014. Agent Kindawah had complained that his NBI boss had accused him of secretly recording him, thus prompting the seizure of the phone.

But after a chambers conference Monday, Mr. Karley, who stands as defendant in the case, told reporters that Agent Kindawah was in the habit of secretly recording senior security officials’ meetings.

“If the county attorney says return the phone, then we’ll return the phone. I have nothing to do with the phone; I’m just using the phone as evidence, if the need arises that this matter goes to court,” he said.

Mr. Karley says the seizure of Agent Kindawah’s phone was strictly an administrative action, though he said a reform process to have the NBI merged with a related government security institution is ongoing.

Notwithstanding, it is not known how soon the case will kick off, as the Justice Ministry will have to decide whether to press criminal charges in the case that is demanding an investigative report from  Mr. Karley, who has been accused of theft of property and criminal coercion.