By Lincoln G. Peters
Embattled Liberty Party (LP) Chairman Musa Hassa Bility has defied his accusers in an alleged forgery, criminal conspiracy and criminal facilitation trial, saying he will prevail in the matter and build a valuable party that will be a serious contender in the pending 2023 presidential and legislative elections.
Appearing at the court Tuesday, 8 February 2022 for a hearing of the case, Bility said he is optimistic and has confidence in the judicial system, adding that his legal team will come out victorious.
“All those that brought me here have done nothing in Grand Bassa County. They are afraid of us therefore, they are preventing us from taking over the developmental agenda of the county. The truth never stays underground. It says in the Bible “the truth crushed to earth will rise again,” Bility said in an interview with journalists at the court Tuesday, Feb. 8.
Last week, the magisterial court in Monrovia ordered the arrest of the controversially expelled LP chair and Mr. Martin S. Kollah, after a faction of the party filed a lawsuit accusing the two men of allegedly committing forgery, criminal conspiracy and criminal facilitation.
For several months Liberty Party has been divided into two factions between Mr. Bility and Senator Nyonblee Karnga – Lawrence, the political leader of the party.
Initially, the two officials announced that they were suspending each other from the LP, but Senator Karnga – Lawrence’s faction has extended its action recently, expelling Bility and others from the party.
Bility has equally sued Montserrado Senator and LP executive Abraham Darius Dillon for damages for wrong, claiming that the senator called him a criminal.
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But following the complaint filed by LP partisans Romeo Coker, Jeremy Russell and Napoleon Weah against Mr. Bility, Monrovia City Court Stipendiary Magistrate Jomah Jallah issued a writ of arrest for the embattled Liberty Party chairman last week.
Mr. Bility has described the lawsuit against him as a strategy orchestrated by Senators Kangar-Lawrence and Dillon to keep the party recklessly down and prevent it from carrying on development in the 15 sub-political divisions of the country.
He told journalists at the Temple of Justice that his accusers have no case against him but are only doing all this to limit the party’s operation and keep it recklessly down.
The embattled LP chair indicated that he went to the position with plans for Grand Bassa County, claiming that his accusers are seeking to prevent him from implementing these plans.
“All those that brought me here have done nothing in Grand Bassa County. They are afraid of us, therefore, they are preventing us from taking over the developmental agenda [of] the county. The truth never stays underground. It says in the Bible, “the truth crushed to earth will rise again,” Mr. Bility stated.
Following a hearing at the Monrovia City Court Tuesday, Magistrate Jomah Jallah reserved ruling into a motion filed by Bility’s lawyer, Cllr. Arthur Tamba Johnson, seeking to dismiss the charges brought against the accused.
Cllr. Johnson said the motion is particularly in line with Section 11.2 E of the Criminal Procedure Law of Liberia which actually focuses on whether or not the complainants have the capacity or standing to issue the writ against their elected chairman.
He maintained that the private prosecutors do not have any legal standing to file the lawsuit against the LP National Chairman because they are not members of the executive council.
According to Cllr. Johnson, the complainants Romeo Coker, Daniel Sando, Jeremy Russell and Napoleon Weah were suspended by the party due to their alleged failure to pay the party’s due.
Cllr. Johnson continued that in Criminal Procedure Law, a probable cause must have been established through a thorough police investigation to derive at the crime of forgery before being forwarded to court.
He urged the court to dismiss and deny the writ because it lacks every merit and the complainants do not have proper standing.
For their part, the private prosecutors’ lawyers headed by the Ministry of Justice said the act of forgery and criminal conspiracy and criminal facilitation were caused in January 2021 before the suspension of the complainants.
Cllr. Saymah Syrenius Cephus prayed the Monrovia City Court Magistrate to dismiss and quash the motion filed by the defense lawyers, saying it lacks substance.
Magistrate Jallah has reserved ruling in the matter pending assignment.https://thenewdawnliberia.com/liberia-bility-drags-dillon-to-court/
