By Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
TEMPLE OF JUSTICE, Monrovia- Judge A. Blamo Dixon of Criminal Court “C” issued a writ of habeas corpus on Justice Minister Frank Musa Dean and Police Inspector General Patrick Sudue and his assistants of the Liberia National Police (LNP).
Judge Dixon issued the writ at the weekend (on Friday August 12,2022).
Habeas corpus is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, to bring the prisoner to court, to determine whether the detention is lawful.
The judge’s action is as a result of a petition filed by people believed to members of the students Unification Party through its lawyer, Cllr Finley Karngar alleging that they have held a member of SUP for two days without charging or releasing him under the due process of the law.
Due to the complaint, Judge Dixon of criminal Court ‘C’ issued a writ ordering Justice Minister Musa Dean and Col. Patrick Sudue to release the living body of Darius Toweh who was arrested on the AME University campus by member of the Liberia national police.
In the petition filed to the court by the Student Unification Party through its lawyer, Cllr. Karngar noted that defendant Toweh, who has been in police custody for two days, is not well and has had no contact with family members and friends since his arrest.
According to Cllr Finley Karngar, the national police headed by inspector Patrick Sudue is in gross violation of the petitioner statutory rights guaranteed under the Liberian laws and those international treaties
In Article 21.f, of Liberia’s 1986 constitution, warrant is needed to make arrests and provides that detainees either be charged or released within 48 hours; however, warrants are not always based on sufficient evidence, and detainees are often held for more than 48 hours without charge, especially if they do not have the means to hire a lawyer.
However, in the petition, it was revealed that the police had violated the defendant constitutional right of the 48 hours detention without charge for which the petitioner files the petition.
Meanwhile, Cllr Finley Karngar wants minister Dean and Police IG Sudue, to appear before the court to show cause why defendant Darius Toweh should not be ordered released by the court.