PHOTO: Late Princess Cooper who died mysteriously
By Our Reporter
The family of the young Liberian woman, Princess Cooper who recently died mysteriously near Monrovia this week reversed their demand for a second autopsy on the remains of their relative, expressing dissatisfaction over the way the ruling CDC party government of Liberia was handling the issue.
But in a press statement issued by the Ministry of Information today, Thursday, May 26, 2022, the Liberian government says it still remains committed to conducting the second autopsy.
The lifeless body of Princess was discovered dead on the compound of a building material story at the ELWA Junction in Monrovia’s Paynesville suburb with blood running from her mouth and nose.
In a statement, the Princess Cooper family accused the Justice Ministry and the CDC government of not relating to the family, regarding their request for a second autopsy, following their decision to boycott the first one conducted by the government’s Pathologist. They said they want to give their family member a befitting burial.
“We can say that there is no path for justice in Liberia. With what we have gone through, we can now confirm this road to obtaining justice [will] be a rocky path. Therefore, we the family have seen this as a fruitless journey,” said a May 25, 2022 statement read by the late Princess’ family spokesperson, Dr. Abel Momo who was in tears.
The family spoke of difficulties, constraints and lack of fairness in their quest for justice.
The first autopsy report concluded that there was no foul play and that Princess was a Tuberculosis patient.
Below is the Ministry of Information statement:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monrovia, May 26, 2022: The Government wishes to announce that it is in receipt of a communication from the family of the late Princess Cooper, who was found dead in March, requesting the body of the deceased for burial without the agreed second autopsy.
This is contrary to an initial agreement involving the family, their lawyer, and some civil society organizations for a second autopsy to be conducted by a pathologist the family will select.
The government affirms that it remains very committed to conducting the autopsy that was requested by Princess’ family to allay all the allegations and claims regarding the cause of her death, in order to bring proper closure to this matter.
Her family, in keeping with the government’s commitment to facilitate and fund the conduct of a second autopsy by their designated pathologist, recommended in April a practitioner from the Philippines named Doctor Ritualo
The office of the Attorney General immediately made contact with Dr. Ritualo. Email exchanges began in which the Attorney General requested Doctor Ritualo to send his CV and License that qualify him as a medical doctor and pathologist for onward presentation to the Liberia Medical and Dental Association in keeping with the law and professional medical standards in Liberia.
However, ever since the doctor was asked to submit a copy of his license to operate as a pathologist, a requirement of the Liberia Medical and Dental Council, he has not been heard from. Many attempts by the Minister of Justice to get Doctor Ritualo to comply with his request have yielded no result.
The Cooper family was duly informed of this lack of communication, through their representative Dr. Abel Momo, their Lawyer Cllr. Tiawon Gongloe and the President of the Liberia Council of Churches Bishop Kortu Brown.
The government wants to make it categorically clear that it remains open to bringing in any other pathologist of the family’s will.
It is concerning therefore that regardless of the many overtures made by the Government through the Attorney General to lend support to the bereaved family in their quest to bring closure to the circumstances surrounding the death of Princess Cooper, some have opted to politicize the matter.
Nonetheless, the Government through the Minister of Justice, Cllr. Frank Musa Dean as a further demonstration of goodwill, will convene a discussion with the family, their lawyer, the inter-religious Council, and any other civil society organization interested in providing assistance in this matter to find an amicable solution to the impasse.
Signed:___________________
Ledgerhood Rennie
MINISTER