Jurors, defendants, alleged victims and representatives of both legal teams visit the alleged crime scene as members of Vice President Jeremiah Koung’s security detail stand outside his nearby residence. Credit: Anthony Stephens/New Narratives.
Summary:
· Jurors, defendants and alleged victims in Liberia’s biggest human trafficking trial visited the compound where all 57 victims said they were held, marking a pivotal moment as the trial enters its final stages.
· The inspection revealed the layout of the compound, which defendants insist was a legitimate business office but victims say was the site of imprisonment, beatings, rape, torture, and other abuse.
· Prosecutors and defense lawyers both expressed confidence they would win the case.
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives
GBANKPA TOWN, Margibi County —Jurors in Liberia’s largest human trafficking trial visited the alleged crime scene Saturday, inspecting the compound where all 57 alleged victims — and a former defendant who later confessed to the crimes and testified for the prosecution — said they were held, abused and forced to recruit relatives and friends into the alleged trafficking network.
The court-ordered visit marked another key moment in the case, which has drawn national and international attention. Prosecutors say the compound served as the base of an organization that lured victims with promises of jobs in Canada or Australia before subjecting them to human trafficking, rape, beatings, torture and other abuse. Four of the original 12 detained defendants have now pleaded guilty to charges of human trafficking, theft of property and conspiracy to commit theft. The remaining eight deny the allegations, insisting they operated a legitimate business. (15 more accused have yet to be arrested.)
Jurors traveled to the compound under police escort, accompanied by four alleged victims, the eight defendants, court staff, sheriffs and one representative each from the prosecution and defense teams. The jurors inspected the property first before the other parties and this reporter entered. FrontPage Africa/New Narratives is withholding the identities of the alleged victims for their safety. The compound has not been secured since the alleged victims said they escaped it in September last year. So jurors would not necessarily be seeing it as it was at the time.
Defendants wait outside the compound.
he case involves 57 alleged victims — 35 men and 22 women — who told FrontPage Africa/New Narratives, police investigators and the court that they were held at the compound for between six and 18 months. They alleged they were beaten, raped, tortured, deprived of food and compelled to recruit relatives and friends by falsely claiming they were living prosperous lives in Canada. Some also accused the defendants of extorting thousands of dollars from them. Shelley Jonny, a former defendant whose charges were dropped after she pleaded guilty and agreed to testify for the prosecution, told the court that as many as 150 people were held at the compound at one point.
The victims said they had been promised jobs in Canada or Australia before discovering that the promises were false. A Montserrado County grand jury later indicted the defendants on charges of human trafficking, criminal conspiracy and theft of property, concluding there was probable cause to believe they had engaged in what it described as “slavery-like practice/labor exploitation.”
According to representatives of both sides, the jurors declined to visit another location where defendants claimed the victims had lived because they were not persuaded such a visit was necessary.
The inspection lasted 90 minutes but began more than three hours late. Four employees of the Labor Ministry and the Judiciary, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said the prison vehicle transporting the defendants ran out of fuel and later developed a mechanical fault.
Inside the compound where the victims said they were held for up to 18 months.
Augustine C. Fayiah, Liberia’s solicitor general, said he had not been aware of the delay until Saturday, when he acted quickly. The government is under pressure from international partners to make sure this trial was run professionally. “It was their negligence,” Fayiah said, referring to prison authorities.
Samuel Lance Jasper, general prison coordinator at the Monrovia Central Prison, said he would comment after consulting the prison superintendent but did not do so by publication.
With the trial entering a final phase, Fayiah said prosecutors were confident jurors would return a guilty verdict.
“We believe we have produced a prima facie case,” said Fayiah, who has led the prosecutorial team. “The evidence is overwhelming. The evidence is very cogent and to the point. But it’s not us that will determine the case. It’s the jurors that will determine whether the evidence we’ve produced is to their satisfaction. To the best of our knowledge, it met the benchmark under the Trafficking in Persons Act.”
A mattress at the site during the court-authorized inspection of the facility.
Throughout the trial, defendants have insisted the compound functioned only as a business office. They testified that it contained just two rooms used for administrative work and product presentations, making it impossible for anyone to live there.
A bottle of Olé, one of the products the defendants testified they sold as part of a legitimate online sales business, sits beside a book on African leadership on a table inside the house.
Both defendants and alleged victims testified that presentations for products including Bio Disc, Amezcua Bio Light 3, HomePure and Olé were conducted inside the house. An empty bottle of Olé and a book on African leadership were seen on a large table inside.
FrontPage Africa/New Narratives observed four rooms inside the main house—as well as four additional rooms elsewhere within the fenced compound. The property contained a kitchen, three bathrooms, a sitting room, a dining room, two porches and a security booth between the compound’s two metal gates. The compound backs onto the Atlantic Ocean, and the yard is lined with flowers of different varieties.
One of the rooms in the house.
Judge Roosevelt Willie approved the inspection after a request by the defense through its lead lawyer, Sennay Carlor.
The compound has drawn additional attention after three defendents— Rudolph Flomo—Maxon Wonlebaye, and Alexander Plato— testified that four members of Vice President Koung’s security detail inspected the property before Koung moved into the neighborhood. The property is located next door to the vice president’s compound. None of the three identified the officers by name. The men said the security guards were certainly have flagged the cirmes had they been happening then. Solomon Ware, a spokesman for the vice president, previously said the officers would need to be identified before his office could investigate the allegations.
Fayiah said prosecutors had found no evidence supported the defendants’ allegations.
“We have looked into everything. We visited the terrain. The prosecutors investigated,” Fayiah said. “If those things had actually happened, we would have treated them. The persons they mentioned cannot be involved in those kinds of things. Those are trained security. When somebody is getting into the mud, sometimes they want to carry other people in.”
One of the rooms that victims said they were kept in.
All of the defendants testified that they belonged to Infinity Millennium Platinum Star Limitless Institution, an organization they said was affiliated with QNET, the Malaysian direct-selling company. QNET has denied any involvement in the alleged trafficking scheme.
“It would be inappropriate for QNET to comment further on the case or on any testimony at this time” because of the ongoing legal proceedings, Francis Sam, QNET’s public relations manager for Sub-Saharan Africa, said in an email to FrontPage Africa/New Narratives.
“We have zero tolerance for the misuse of our brand for illegal purposes and will cooperate fully with any relevant authority where appropriate.”
Sennay Carlor, the state appointed public defender in the case, said his clients were confident they would be acquitted.
“A hundred percent,” he said. “Those that pleaded guilty, it’s left with them. Those still saying, ‘No, we didn’t do it,’ that’s good. We still have a beautiful case. The testimony we have is good to acquit them.”
The trial resumes Monday with prosecutors expected to present rebuttal witnesses. Carlor said the defense had changed its strategy and would no longer call the additional witnesses it had earlier indicated it would present. Meanwhile, Carlor paid the US$100 fine imposed by Judge Willie after accusing him of handling the case unfairly, while Adolphus Karnuah, a prosecutor, paid a US$50 fine imposed on him by the judge after calling Carlor confused.
This story was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the Investigating Liberia project. Funding was provided by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. The funder had no say in the story’s content.
