FLASHBACK: Suspect Thomas Ethridge during a drama outside the Court on Capitol Hill
By Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
TEMPLE OF JUSTICE, Monrovia– Government lawyers are seeking the Supreme Court Chambers Justice Yamie Qui-qui Gbeisay to overturn Judge Koiboi Nuta ruling in the Habeas Corpus petition which saw Suspect Thomas Ethridge being released to his guarantors earlier this week.
The Prosecution through the Ministry of Justice took Criminal Court “B” Judge Nuta before the Chambers Justice is seeking to stop him from allowing the alleged suspect Ethridge in the December 18, 2024 Capitol Building fire incident from going to hospital accompanied by his family members.
The grounds of the Temple of Justice, seat of the Liberian Judiciary, was scene early this week a scene of attraction when the main suspect in the alleged arson attack on the Capitol Building, Thomas Etheridge was released by Criminal Court “B” to seek medical treatment, after claims he was being tortured by state security forces. Arson Suspect Allegedly Linked To Capitol Building Fire Released But… – News Public Trust
The Habeas Corpus petition filed by Thomas’ lawyers Cllrs. Elisha Forkeyoh and Jonathan Massaquoi who spent three days in detention.
A Habeas Corpus petition writ requires that a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court, especially to secure the person’s release, unless lawful grounds are shown for their detention.
Judge Nuta’s ruling in the Habeas Corpus case on Monday, January 13, released Thomas Ethridge to his sureties to enable him to seek medical attention and return him to the court. State lawyers petition before Chambers Justice Gbeisay argued that Judge Nuta’s ruling went beyond the case before him.
According to the state, Judge Nuta was duly informed that there was a writ of arrest for Thomas by the Monrovia City Court Magistrate Ben L. Barco and that Thomas was a flight risk.
But, the Judge ruled to turn him over to a guarantors who are not neutral in the case.
Prosecuting attorneys filed a petition for a Writ of Prohibition against Judge Nuta and Suspect Thomas, something which has been interpreted as preventing the alleged suspect from going to hospital with his family.
Suspect Etheridge is said to be a staff member of the embattled House Speaker Fonati Koffa.
The Suspect was arrested on Friday, January 10, 2025, and taken to the Liberian National Police Headquarters for investigation in connection to the Capitol Building fire incident.
After spending three days in detention, his lawyers Cllrs. Forkeyoh and Massaquoi filed a petition for Habeas Corpus before Judge Nuta to compel the government to produce the living body of Thomas in court.
Thomas fainted after a Writ of Arrest from the Monrovia City Court was issued against him immediately following the Judge Nuta’s ruling.
Later, the suspect was held with his hands and feet by state security as he was taken away to hospital. Before his unconsciousness, Suspect Ethridge told his lawyers, Cllrs. Elisha Forkeyoh and Jonathan Massaquoi of how he was interrogated by security personnel during his 3-days in detention.
Suspect Ethridge revealed multiple instances of alleged abuse, coercion, and fabrication as his statement sheds light on the troubling interrogation methods used to extract confessions that he claims were false and made under force.
According to him, he was pressured to falsely admit his involvement in the Capitol Building Fire incident and other activities.
He said security personnel manipulated his statements by presenting recordings taken out of con as text.
Suspect Ethridge is quotedsaying: “They made a statement that indicted me saying I called people to the Boss Man house from the CDC headquarters. “
Also, he said authorities linked him to the fire incident by associating him with others, including Eric Susee and Amos Kofa, who were supposedly involved in the protest.
“Then they said you were with Janga Kowo. You were calling Kowo and others to meet to your boss man place. I told them that the people who you are calling I don’t know them, only hear their names.
Don’t go on CDC party headquarters. Then, they brought in another guy’s statement. I have already stayed there from 11 am to 3 pm in the underground place.
They threatened to sodomize me if I do not give them what they want”, he tearfully explained.
He refuted a fabricated statement where Eric Susee allegedly said he bought gas for the fire, a claim Eric later refuted, asserting that he was coerced into making the statement.
The suspect added that during his time in custody, security personnel used threats of violence and even physical abuse to coerce him into providing the answers they wanted; as such, after being subjected to physical abuse, he attempted to resist the fabricated narrative by providing his own version of events, which led to further beatings.
The fire incident occurred on December 18, 2024, when the Rotunda of the Joint Chambers of the Liberian Legislature, gutted by fire.
The incident came as a result of an ongoing political turmoil of a power struggle between the majority bloc led by Representative Richard Nagbe Koon and embattled Speaker J. Fonati Koffa.
On January 8, 2025, during a press briefing, the Inspector General of Police Col. Gregory O. W. Coleman confirmed the fire incident as an act of arson.
The incident occurred a day after a protest was held at the Capitol Building, leading to the arrest of 73 individuals, including several others as person of interest in connection with the attack and security personnel present at the time of the incident.
IG Coleman said that the incident was an act of arson with sufficient evidence gathered to support his conclusion as authorities seek to bring the perpetrators to justice.