The Supreme Court of Liberia has released from prison seven traditional leaders of Bong County after serving three months of jail sentences.
The quest by the high court to have the convicts released was based on a request for pardon prayed for in a communication to the court by the defendants’ lawyers, backed with surety.
Those currently serving jail sentences are Daniel Tubman, Commissioner; Clinton Brown, Acting City Mayor of Totota City; Robert Sulu, Acting General Town Chief of Totota City; Miller Bondo, Youth Leader of Salala District; Varfee Sirleaf, Poro Gorve Operator, Salala District; Ernest White, Cultural Advisor; and Joseph Kollie, Acting Paramount Chief of Fuahmah Chiefdom.
Reading the Supreme Court’s mandate Wednesday, Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene Yuoh said that the court cannot grant the request for pardon, but rather they will grant them parole.
She said that the granting of pardon by the Supreme Court for a penalty it imposed on a certain contemnor is a matter of judicial discretion, more than the application of the law.
According to her, it is the power of the Supreme Court to extend mercy to the petitioner if their imprisonment warrants it.
Chief Justice Yuoh noted that the petitioner has served three months out of the six months sentence of their imprisonment, imposed by the Supreme Court, and expressed remorse for their action.
He said the traditional leaders, in their communication said that they would remain law abiding at all times and uphold the integrity and dignity of the Supreme Court within the Republic.
Meanwhile, Chief Justice Yuoh has granted the convicts a request for further release from detention but with the provision that they report once monthly to the ministerial officer of their respective magisterial court, who shall record their attendance.
It can be recalled that the convicts were held in contempt of court by the Supreme Court for their action after the judge ruled against their kinsman.
The high court’s judgment on Thursday said it has the inherent authority to punish contempt acts interfering with the independence and integrity of the courts and Constitutional duties.
The judgment further revealed that those held in contempt deliberately ransacked the magisterial courts in Salala, Gbartala, and Bong Mines, Bong County.
Accordingly, the Supreme Court in its judgment maintained that the act by the chiefs, commissioners, and mayors violates the Constitutional principle of separation of powers and the immunity granted to judicial officers in performing their duties.
The Supreme Court Justices found the contemptuous guilty of the crime of criminal contempt of the Judicial Branch of Government, and their sentence commenced on the date of rendition of the judgment.