Horrifying Ordeal in Police Hands -Kalasco Narrates How He Was Arrested, Treated, Imprisoned

MONROVIA – Former presidential aide, Sekou Kalasco Jomanday, has been relating his arrest, treatment and imprisonment on the day a group of citizens were protesting for the rule of law on Capitol Hill last week, describing the ordeal illegal and horrific, and vowing legal option. 

In an open letter to Liberians and the International Community, the former President George Manneh Weah’s special aide, disclosed he was wrongfully arrested by the Liberia National Police and incarcerated at the Monrovia Central Prison because of his critical stance on the governance mishaps of the Boakai administration.

He said on the day of the protest, like other unsuspecting residents of Monrovia, he was on his way to Central Town, through the Bypass Community, where he was taking gasoline, when the fateful event took place.

“A few days ago, like many of you, I chose to pass through central Monrovia,” he narrated. “I stopped to obtain fuel from the Conex or Total Gas Station at Capitol By-pass. I could not move forward as there was congestion of people and vehicles on the road caused by the police reaction to the peaceful protestors that had assembled in the vicinity of the Capitol Building. I stood at the front of the Gas Station, on the By-pass side, while I was contemplating my next steps. Do I simply stand and watch, or walk to friends who were still at the used car garage in Jallah’s Town where I once did business with the folks there, or join the other vehicles to just sit in the traffic?”

He said his contemplation of next move by the side of the road was rudely interrupted when Police officers jumped out of a pickup and preyed on him, one of the officers growling, “There he is”, and suddenly, couple of gun butts hitting him, apparently to subdue him even though he was not resisting.

At once, the former presidential aide said, he was bundled up with others in the back of a pickup like a common criminal.

“Let it be clear: I had no placard in my hand, no marker in my pocket and no poster sheet on my person,” Kalasco said. “I was not leading any followers, following any figure or converging with any comrades. I was just standing, a Liberian citizen, in his nations’ capital watching others attempt to exercise their Constitutional rights.”

At the LNP Headquarters, he said, he watched first hand an approach to how the handling of a person being arrested is does by the police, their interest being “taking my photos and placing me in handcuffs”.

The rest of the narration by the former presidential aide about his ordeal is this:

At no time was I asked for a statement or placed in a position where taking one was possible. I was carried to the basement of the LNP headquarters and even when I attempted to sit on a bench, one of the PSU officers barged in, demanding that I sit on the floor and take off my sneakers. He did not dwell in empty words alone. He threatened that he had a gun on him, and he will use it on me, if I do not follow his instruction, describing himself as an “old rebel.” This led to serious agitation from other persons who were in custody in the basement and this clamor led to other officers coming to take him away.

Some minutes after 3PM, I was taken from the basement at the LNP Headquarters and carried to the Criminal Court “C.” There, the presiding judge, who appeared to be rushed, read out charges against us with the entire process being just about nine minutes. We were not asked to bring lawyers. However, a kind lawyer who happened to be in the vicinity informed the judge that we were not served a copy of any court precepts, at which point, we were made to sit while the precepts were typed and given to us. At this time, it was a group of about 15 persons who were carried to the court. From Criminal Court “C,” we were bundled and taken to the Monrovia Central Prison at South Beach.

At South Beach, I was placed in Block “D” and shared a cell space equal to a small closet with eight other persons. When I arrived, I was told that persons at the prison received visitors on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. However, while there, no visitors were allowed to me even on the day reserved for visit. But the night was different. A huge squad of plain clothes men descended on the cell block, flashing lights and claiming to be looking for me. Inmates in the block began rattling on their gates and stating, “we will not allow you people to do to him the same thing you did to the Guinea man.” I don’t know who the Guinea man is nor what happened to him.

This attempt failed, I was kept at the prison for one more night before the legal team, including Cllr. James Kumeh, came and obtained our release,” Mr. Jomanday narrated in his open letter.

My Perspective

As you have already heard, I was not protesting at the time I was arrested. Indeed, if I were protesting, there would have been several people gathered around me as it tends to happen to persons in a protest perceived to be more senior. However, given the time I have had to reflect, I have come to fully regret the fact that I was not protesting.

Our nation is experiencing a downpour of injustice. For little or no reasons, hundreds of Liberians were taken away from their ordinary jobs which fed their families. Some of these people worked at the Ministry of State or other places.

Public appointees, benefitting from the legal guarantee of tenure have been forced out of office, even after the Supreme Court of the Republic of Liberia had ruled in their favor. Persons associated with the previous government, particularly those hailing from a particular portion of the country, have become the subject of malicious prosecution, with no evidence available, only for the purpose of causing a drain on their finances, time and reputations they have built up over the years.

It has long been said that Liberia is divided, very divided. But let it be very clear; the people of Liberia did not wish for their nation to be divided. In the elections last year, they voted for their leaders to bring the nation together. While a 1% vote difference gave the Presidency to the Unity Party, the electorate gave the CDC 25 seats in the House of Representatives and just 11 to the Unity Party. The elected lawmakers, consistent with the wish of the people elected both a CDC Speaker and a Deputy Speaker, asking for the two parties who they have voted for in their multitudes from 2005 until now to work together for the wellbeing of the nation.

What is happening at the House of Representatives is not a dispute amongst lawmakers. It is a full-scale insurrection, where President Boakai is trying to accomplish by means of physical force and the naked might of the nation’s security forces what our people, in their wisdom, did not give him at the ballot box. For the first time in our history, armed police are at the sacred grounds of the Capitol Building preventing individuals elected by the Liberian people and their peers from carrying out their solemn duty. The Supreme Court of Liberia has ruled in favor of Speaker J. Fonati Koffa. However, President Boakai lived a good portion of his life in a one-party state. It is clear that is just where he wants Liberia to return to, a one-party state with an imperial presidency, where the heads of the other branches of government are his boys and his girls.

This is not a matter for polite speech, mumbled words and appeals to both sides. You do not tell a person who is being killed to die for the sake of peace, because the aggressors have weapons, and you want to move on to something else. We cannot be a country that calls for justice in the form of a War and Economic Crimes Court, or you, a foreign power that has over the years supported such, be conspicuously silent when the outcome of not just one election, but two: the General and Speakership elections, are bludgeoned out of existence and still call this peace. It is not. It is miscarriage of the rule of law that leads to chaos.  

 So, even as I regret not protesting on Dark Tuesday, let me say that I now owe the government a protest. As a responsible believer in democracy, rest assured that I will deliver it. Thank you very much,” Mr. Jomanday vowed emphatically.

5 Comments
  1. 국대티비 says

    흥분과 감동의 도가니, 스포츠중계는 국대티비!

  2. google says

    I loved as much as you’ll receive carried out right here. The sketch is tasteful, your authored material stylish.

  3. 먹튀검증업체 says

    먹튀검증사이트가 제공하는 철저한 검증 시스템, 이용자의 안전을 지킵니다.

  4. drover sointeru says

    Great tremendous issues here. I?¦m very satisfied to look your post. Thanks a lot and i’m looking forward to touch you. Will you please drop me a mail?

Comments are closed.