By Lincoln G. Peters
TEMPLE OF JUSTICE, Monrovia, July 21, 2026 — Former Finance and Development Planning Minister Samuel D. Tweah Jr. has rejected a Criminal Court “C” ruling that overturned his not-guilty verdict and ordered a new trial following an investigation into alleged jury tampering and misconduct.
Judge Ousman F. Feika issued the ruling Tuesday in the US$19 million corruption case involving the Republic of Liberia, through the Ministry of Justice, against Tweah and others.
“The evidence having established gross jury tampering and misconduct, and the jury’s conduct having contaminated and tainted the verdict returned on May 8, 2026, the trial from which the verdict arose is hereby declared a mistrial,” Judge Feika ruled.
“The verdict is accordingly set aside, and a new trial is ordered,” he added.
Reacting to the decision in a Facebook post, Tweah described the ruling as a major setback for Liberia’s justice system and democracy and vowed to resist it.
“Today, Liberian justice and democracy took a gigantic step backwards, but men are prepared to resist this slide into anarchy,” Tweah wrote. “No judge, no justice and no president can ever change my NOT GUILTY verdict. It is etched in the history of our country.”
He dismissed the decision as a “kangaroo ruling” and insisted that he remains a free man.
Tweah also said he had instructed his lawyers not to seek relief from the Supreme Court, arguing that his legal battle ended with the jury’s not-guilty verdict.
“As such, they will file nothing before the Supreme Court. We have left the law and are now in the full realm of politics,” he stated.
However, Tweah’s lead lawyer, Cllr. Arthur Tamba Johnson, formally took exception to the ruling and announced an appeal to the Supreme Court of Liberia.
“This ruling has destroyed our entire democracy and judicial system,” Johnson said. “All the laws that the judge cited were applied after the jurors had been discharged. Therefore, the judge had no legal authority to bring them back.”
The defense’s announced appeal appears to conflict with Tweah’s declaration that his lawyers would file nothing before the Supreme Court.
