Monrovia – On Wednesday, October 2, the government, through the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, issued a Writ of Ne Exeat Republica against Former Finance Minister Tweah and four other indictees on corruption allegations, ranging from Economic Sabotage, Misuse of Public Money, Theft of Property, Money Laundering, Criminal Facilitation, and Criminal Conspiracy.
By Willie Tokpah, [email protected]
But Tweah, however, said he has no intentions of traveling outside Liberia until his trial ends.
The initial writ, previously intended to restrict them from leaving Liberia, was challenged by Tweah’s lawyers because there were key issues that needed amendment.
However, following the amended version, the writ noted that Tweah, Cllr. Nyanti Tuan, former acting Minister of Justice, Stanley A. Ford, former Director General, Financial Intelligence, D. Moses P. Cooper, former Financial Intelligence Comptroller, and Jefferson Karmon, former National Security Advisor to the President, should only be arrested if they are leaving the bailiwick of the country without the court’s permission
“You are further commanded to arrest the living bodies of the defendants in the above caption case and bring them before this court upon their arrest and subsequently take away their passports and turn them over to the Sheriff of CRIMINAL COURT “C”, CAPT. TINA G.
NORRING, for Montserrado County, if they are attempting to leave the bailiwick of the country without the court’s permission,” the writ ordered.
However, a member of Tweah’s inner circle said the latest writ was not a problem and that Tweah doesn’t intend to travel again and is here for the case.
“It’s not an issue and the government have a right to file for anything and when we go and ask for permission and the government doesn’t permit us, then it gives us grounds for filing,” a member of Tweah’s legal team told FrontPageAfrica.
Whereas, it has been represented to His Honor A. Blamo Dixon, Resident Circuit Judge, First Judicial Circuit, Criminal Court “C” for Montserrado County, Republic of Liberia, sitting in its August Term, A.D. 2024, that the petitioner Hereto filed before this Court an application for Ne Exeat Republica, that the defendants in the above captioned case (Samuel D. Tweah, Cllr. Nyanti Tuan, Stanley S. Ford, D. Moses P. Cooper and Jefferson Karmoh) are about to leave the Bailiwick of the Republic of Liberia to Foreign Parts to the surprise of the petitioner/plaintiff, and that the assigned Judge having been duly satisfied upon the application filed by the petitioner, orders a writ of Ne Exeat Republica issued. The defendants should only be arrested if they are leaving the bailiwick of the country without the court’s permission.
Excerpt from the Writ of Ne Exeat Republica
At the same time, the State has filed a ten-count exception to the bond submitted to the Criminal Court “C,” by Tweah, because one of the properties named within the bond has a mortgage at one of the commercial banks in the country.
Nevertheless, the judge has a description to approve a criminal appearance bond. Tweah’s legal team has however maintained that despite the government’s right to challenge the bond, they believed the bond is valid.
Tweah: “Indictment a witch-hunt”
Tweah, meanwhile, has termed the government’s indictment against him as a “total witch hunt.”
He said over the last six years, he has been a major political target and has faced “falsely devilish accusations, spanning from a so-called 25 million mop-up propaganda through the 16 billion concoction to so many other fabrications intended to besmirch my reputation and derail my political institution.”
He pointed out that the ruling Unity Party is facing massive allegations of ongoing corruption, including a UP government-sanctioned CBL payment of US$8 million of Liberia’s reserve money to SIB Bank, which funded the UP campaign.
His statement referred to a FrontPage Africa (FPA) story from July 29, 2024. FPA reported a controversial decision by the Central Bank of Liberia to guarantee loans to two struggling banks under the guise of bolstering financial sector stability.
Tweah said the Unity Party-led government was “shamelessly” turning a blind eye to mountains of audit reports detailing the gutting of the Liberian Treasury under its 12-year rule and, experiencing very low public ratings due to its six-month failures as a government, has decided to politically witch-hunt him and former officials of the CDC.
“Working with my lawyers and others, I stand ready to defeat this witch-hunt and vindicate my reputation through the justice system,” Tweah said. “In the end, I will emerge stronger and my enemies will be put to shame!”
