PHOTO: County Attorney Randolph Johnson
By King Brown, sarwahking@gmail.com
BUCHANAN, Liberia –Prisoners arrested and detained for criminal and other offenses have been released from the Buchanan Central Prison Center in Grand Bassa County.
Attorney Randolph Johnson of Grand Bassa County said he facilitated the discharged of about 17 eligible inmates from prison after dropping multiples of charges against them.
He said those released had spent about 256 days behind bars at the Upper Buchanan central prison without trial.
Few days ago, the Prison Fellowship Liberia (PFL) described the conditions of the inmates at the Monrovia Central Prison and prison facilities in other parts of the country as horrific and a time bomb, due to the over crowdedness and the inhuman environment.
The fellowship’s Country Director, Reverend Francis Kollie expressed disappointment that Liberian government would treat its citizens like animals, because the courts are now using the precondition of releasing the inmates for money making. CDC Gov’t Warned About Horrific Conditions At Liberia Prisons – News Public Trust
At the Buchanan Central Prison, the inmates were arrested in cases involving disorderly conduct, criminal attempt to commit murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, simple assault and among other related charges.
Speaking during a press conference in this port city of Buchanan recently, County Attorney Johnson maintained that clearing of the jail of about 17 inmates was done during this year’s May term of court in upper Buchanan.
The government’s chief Prosecutor in Grand Bassa County said that the charges against the inmates were dropped in keeping with section 18.1 and 18.3 of the criminal’s procedure laws of the Republic of Liberia.
He quoted section 18.1 of the Penal Code as saying that the state has “the right to drop charges against criminals if not attended to”. And section 18.3 also states that the state has “the right to refile these cases if the need arises”.
Based on that, County Attorney Randolph Johnson declared those inmates free based on private prosecutors’ refusal to pursue the cases, since their incarceration.
He said also the cases pending court decision have been dismissed as well.
However, the Grand Bassa County Attorney is calling on all prosecutors and defense lawyers across this southern County to be more proactive in adjudicating cases.