Jury selected for Matilda’s trial
Jury selection process in the economic sabotage case involving former National Port Authority or NPA Managing Director Madam Matilda Parker and her comptroller Christina K. Pailey has been completed with 15 men and women qualified as judges of fact in the case at the Criminal Court “C,” Temple of Justice in Monrovia.
Both defendants, who have denied charges of criminal facilitation, theft of property and economic sabotage were in court throughout the jury selection process carried out in two days by prosecutors and defense counsels, as members of the public and sympathizers eagerly sat in the courtroom to witness the exercise.
The indictment will be read to the 15-man jury panel on Tuesday, 15 December at 11A.M. to abreast them with the insight and overview of the case, presiding Criminal Court “C” Judge, A. Blamo Dixon, instructed Thursday.
The case is about an alleged over US$800,000 worth of contracts awarded a local enterprise that the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission or LACC appears to have discredited after an investigation.
On the first day of the jury selection on Wednesday, Madam Parker’s supporters assembled outside the court in protest, wearing white T-shirts with her photograph and displaying a large banner that said “… you’ll never walk alone.”
Dozens of prospective jurors were denied during the two days screening, while others requested to be excluded due to special conditions that they said would not permit them to stay sequestrated during the trial.
The case continues Tuesday, at 11:00 in the morning.Edited by Jonathan Browne
