The National Executive Council of the Liberian National Bar Association (LNBA), the highest decision making body in the absence of Convention, says, the recent death threats made against Chief Justice Francis S. Korkpor, Sr. by one Mac Jabateh is a threat against the rule of law and also against the entire legal fraternity of Liberia which will not be taken lightly.
At an emergency meeting held in Monrovia on Tuesday, the National Executive Council condemned the threat in the strongest term, and described Mac Jabateh, an expelled journalist of the Press Union of Liberia as a total disappointment and an agent provocateur who has no place in a civilized society.
The LNBA, in a release issued yesterday, strongly frowns on the temper tantrums of Mac Jabateh which it says must be checkmated by all rule of law institutions so that he and his likes do not attempt to rekindle the tragic and despicable moment in history where senior judicial personnel were blended with politicians and executed in the aftermath of the 1980 bloody coup.
The LNBA reminded Jabateh and the likes that a commonplace in a democratic society such as Liberia is that people will almost always disagree, but intolerance to another person’s view or action should not be elevated to the extent of issuing threats such as the one emitted by the unrepentant Jabateh against the Chief Justice’s life.
The LNBA further maintains that there may always be reasons for parties or individuals to disagree with the judicial system, but threats and violence against the Court is not an alternative to register dissatisfaction about the judicial system, adding, ‘adherence to rule of law remains the most viable alternative against impunity and the Court is the safest place for the settlement of dispute’.
The Bar observes that in the event that a party disagrees with the Court or with a Judge, that person cannot take the path of lawlessness, but must seek refuge in the judicial process which continues to remain a bastion of hope and a place of last resort for the settlement of dispute for all. The LNBA then assured the Chief Justice and the entire legal community that it will not rest until Mac Jabateh is held to account for such reckless and irresponsible statements against the Chief Justice.
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