S/Court Condemns Violence Against Court Officials -Cites Attacks On Trial Judge’s Residence in G. Gedeh

By Melvin Jackson 

MONROVIA: The Supreme Court of Liberia has Condemn Attack on Home of Grand Gedeh County Resident Judge, George Wiles Jr., saying in a release that the protest attack

on the home of the Resident Judge of Grand Gedeh County intended to cause harm to persons living within his residence and to cause damage to the property.

On Wednesday, December 13, 2023, some citizens of Grand Gedeh County staged a protest at the home of Judge Wiles demanding the unconditional release from detention of their kinsmen who are being tried for multiple criminal offenses.

The Supreme Court noted that the action of the protesters endangered the lives of the Judge and his family thereby undermining the importance of upholding the rule of law and maintaining the independence, neutrality and integrity of the courts.

The nation’s final arbiter of justice emphasizes the need for the citizens of Grand Gedeh and Liberia in general to be accountable for their actions and to seek redress through lawful means.

The Supreme Court also recounted that it held seven local officials of Bong County in criminal contempt of the Court that last year for vandalizing the Magisterial Courts in Salala, Bong Mines, and Gbartala after they subjected a Magistrate to physical humiliation.

As the result of these “wrongdoing and dreadful acts”, the Supreme Court sentenced the perpetrators of violence against the magistrate to six months’ imprisonment at the Monrovia Central Prison as deterrence and as means to protect the sanctity of the Liberian Judiciary.

Accordingly, the Supreme Court calls on all citizens and residents of Liberia to respect and adhere to the rule of law and to desist from any act that tends to undermine the administration of fair and impartial justice.