Al Smith, a war and economic crimes investigator in Washington, D.C., is calling on the US House and Senate Oversight Committee to open oversight investigations into the activities involving Civitas Maxima, led by Alain Werner, based in Geneva, Switzerland, and the Global Justice Research Project, led by Hassan Bility, based in Monrovia, Liberia, which have been engaged in an alleged criminal conspiracy to seek malicious prosecution and false imprisonment of former Liberian actors involved in the Liberian civil wars for personal and financial gains.
According to Smith, the most recent example involved the false and malicious prosecution and false imprisonment of Gibril Massaquoi, who was acquitted twice for false allegations made by Werner and Bility to the Finnish government. Both the District Court and the Appeals Court for 2 years wasted precious time to listen to false statements, false information and false testimonies produced by witnesses that Bility and Werner coached to lie. He disclosed that Bility also testified under oath and perjured himself on multiple occasions, repeatedly changing his story about when, where, how and why he was allegedly tortured by Massaquoi.
Massaquoi was in jail when the allegations of torture were falsely made and a witness who was in prison with him confirmed that Bility was incarcerated by Charles Taylor at the time and could not have committed the torture on the dates as alleged. “Bility has a checkered past of providing false testimony and numerous international trials which has been called out time and time again as it did during the Massaquoi trial. Even the Judges reportedly could not believe how anyone would believe Bility because his story changed so frequently and they simply didn’t believe,” Smith observed.
Smith noted that the District Court Judges on the first acquittal made the same public conclusion. He said witnesses during the trial even told the Judges that both Bility and Werner wanted them to provide false testimony, which unfortunately many did and for a nominal amount of money. Most people do not understand that the average Liberian lives on less than $1 a day, so an offer of several hundreds or thousands of US dollars is very tempting to the average Liberian.
He alleged that Werner and Bility have amassed millions of US dollars and Euros carrying on this criminal conspiracy over the past 10 years. “One of the most egregious cases was the false accusations made against Michel Desaedeleer, a US and Belgium citizen who was falsely accused by Werner and Bility of raping, killing and eating human beings, which were all false; however, the information provided by a seemingly trusted human rights lawyer, Alain Werner, and his trusted side-kick and co-conspirator, Bility, led to the arrest and illegal detention of Desadeleer based on arrest warrant obtained by the Belgium National Police accusing him of Crimes Against Humanity. In Belgium he was not allowed bail and after becoming distraught and humiliated he could no longer take the pain and committed suicide. His suicide left his family devastated and created undue pain and suffering.
“To date Werner, Bility and others involved in this malicious prosecution have yet to be held accountable for their actions. We hope now that these cases are unraveling that the US Congress take an active role in investigating how the US government could be affiliated or using such individuals to pursue prosecutions in the United States with this overwhelming evidence of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud against various governments and, in particular, the US Government,” Smith asserted.
Bility is currently in the US on invitation of Ambassador Beth Van Schaack, in charge of the Office of Global Criminal Justice at the US Department of State. Her NGO, where she served on the Board of Advisors, reportedly worked with Werner and Bility on the Desaedeleer case. Reportedly in 2023 the US State Department authored a letter to the US Department of Justice warning them of the allegations of coaching witnesses to provide false information, false statements and false testimony in support of these malicious prosecutions. “Even though Van Schaack is aware of this, she still promotes the image and credibility of Werner and Bility. Both Bility and Werner need to be held accountable for their actions,” Smith maintained.
Currently, Bility and Werner are being sued civilly by Agnes Reeves Taylor (former wife of Charles Taylor) in Liberia for US$15 million for a malicious prosecution falsely accusing her of ordering the execution of Amos Bohn in Liberia during the first civil war. This, amongst other false statements provided in an affidavit signed by Werner and Bility to the British Metropolitan Police, War Crimes Unit, led to a warrant being issued for her arrest, where she was placed in solitary confinement for 27 months in a house with terrorists. The British authorities also learned that Amos Bohn was in fact alive and living in London despite the false accusations made by Werner and Bility. Once the case collapsed, the British government released Agnes Reeves Taylor and she returned to Liberia and began legal proceedings against both Werner and Bility.