The Trial Of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf - Episode VIII

The Trial Of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Episode VIII

            It’s 10am and the deliberation in the Grand Jury room had not started. Matthew’s vehicle had problem and was at the repair garage. He had to catch a cab and getting one at ELWA junction was war in itself. He had been struggling since 5am to get a taxi to get to work at the Temple of Justice but to no avail. Each time a taxi stops he was too slow to jump in. Others out paced him.

            Just when he was about to call the resident Judge to excuse him for the day that a friend drove by and signaled to him, “Come hop in Baccus. Are you still waiting for taxi in this kind of crowded place,” his friend asked, stroking his side to win a laughter.

            “My man, I am glad I had to stand here to see what our people go through every day. It was not like that before the war in 1989,” Matthew asserted. “Indeed those who brought the war destroyed every infrastructure and system we had in place,” he added.

            “I thought you were a juror in the hot case in town…I mean the trial of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf?”

            “You just rescued me from where I have been standing for more than five hours. Do you think I am not a part of the suffering population? Matthew said and wind down the Cherokee Jeep window glass and threw the tooth pick in his mouth outside.

            By 11:30am lawyers representing the state and Madam Sirleaf were already seated. The other jurors, except Matthew and two others were still not in. But the foreman had called to inform them that he was within five minutes distance.

            As he arrived, Matthew ordered the deliberation proceeded with. He hit the gavel to demand silence. Madam Sirleaf was scrabbling pieces of information on a paper in her folder. Then she showed it to Cllr. Clarence Simpson. It read, “I don’t think they can prove murder, can they?” She wanted to be sure murder was never mentioned on her name. She felt all other charges she could challenge but murder appeals to the conscious of the public and could turn the tide of public opinion against her.

            “Yes if they are very careful, but largely it would be very difficult,” Cllr. Simpson said. “To prove murder they must prove the willful intent, there must be a murder weapon, in addition to circumstantial and material evidence to nail you on this,” he added.

            Prosecution had been outlining their charges for three days. They have appraised the Jurors of Treason, Aiding and abetting, Murder, Sedition, Crimes Against Humanity, and Criminal Malevolence, crimes they believe Madam Sirleaf has committed in the last two decades or so.

            They have also told jurors how Madam Sirleaf had helped to drug child soldiers with her $20,000 donation made to expedite the NPFL war campaign. Other charges included Genocide, Incitement, False Alarms Leading to International Isolation, and Lies and Con-artistry.

            In closing their argument before the Grand Jury, Cllr. Wreh said, “Honorable citizens, as we speak the blood of innocent people are crying unto God for justice. It is only in one woman’s name they are crying, and that woman is sitting before you today, Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.”

            “If you indict her to face her accusers at the court of competent jurisdiction, you will be setting a precedent, and that is , you will be sending a strong message to all others like her who do not have good use for their money but lavishing it on armed groups to oust elected governments,” Cllr. Added.

            He also told the jurors that there was one reason that the jurors will not let her off the hook—justice. “Do you feel the anguish of the more than 250,000 blood this woman shed by her bad money, or are you going to sit here and let her walk away as if she has done nothing and as if she is an angel?”

            In his counter argument, Cllr. Clarence Simpson told the jurors to quash the charges and throw the case out the window. “Prosecution has failed blatantly to establish their case against my client, and the law says if you have doubt in what they have presented to you, that doubt must work in favor of the defendant,” he noted.

            According to Cllr. Simpson, the charges are politically motivated, and the prosecution has overlooked the “tremendous sacrifices this woman has done to bring about change in this nation that all of us are enjoying.”

            “The charges are bogus, trump-up and intended to drag the name of my client into the mud and erase every good thing she has done to create a solid democracy foundation in this country,” Simpson concluded.

            Following the presentations, the Foreman, Matthew, gaveled the deliberation to close to resume tomorrow morning at 10:0’clock. “Parties being present there is no need for notice of assignment and it is hereby so ordered. Case dismissed.

THE TRIAL CONTINUES.