Thursday, April 5, 2012

Liberia: Taylor Invites Family, Friends for Verdict


Source: The New Dawn (Monrovia)

Key members of ex-President Charles Taylor's family including some closed allies amongst them a journalist, have been invited by Mr. Taylor to attend his verdict due on April 26, this month.
Though the exact number of invitees is not yet known, this paper gathers that individuals heading for the verdict have already began making travelling preparations.
Sources closed to Taylor told this paper that the UN backed Special Court for Sierra Leone will underwrite the travelling expenses.
Mr. Taylor accused of arming Sierra Leonean rebels, faces 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
But he had since denied all charges. Special Court officials on March 1, 2012 announced that the much anticipated verdict would be handed down on April 26, a year after the trial ended with closing arguments.
But the announcement was followed by a motion filed by lawyers representing Taylor requesting an extension of the date. Taylor's defense team filed the motion requesting a change in the trial judgment date due to prior engagement by lead counsel Courtenay Griffiths in a London High Court.
Griffiths had furthered argued that the timing of the ruling, which is on the eve of Sierra Leone's Independence Day, is in bad taste because a conviction would make Taylor appear as an offering to the people of Sierra Leone. But prosecutors objected the defense request, urging the judges to stand by their originally announced date of April 26.
The request was opposed by the prosecution, who asked that judges reject the motion. In a response to the defense motion, the Prosecution argued that "the Defense has failed to establish that the Accused would be prejudiced if the judgment in this case was delivered on 26 April 2012 as scheduled."
Prosecutors furthered argued that if in fact the date for the delivery of judgment was moved from April 26, it will affect Mr. Taylor's right to a fair and expeditious trial. Prosecutors further argue that the Defense motion only talks about the absence of lead defense counsel and does not say anything about the presence or absence of other members of the defense team.
Thus the judges dismissed the motion noting that when it issued their Scheduling Order on March 1 confirming that the judgment will be delivered on April 26, this gave Taylor's lead counsel a notice of about eight weeks, which according to the judges "is more than reasonable time for Counsel to make arrangements to be present for delivery of judgment."
The judges also noted that there are other co-counsel as part of Taylor's defense team who would be present in court in a case that lead counsel cannot attend proceedings on that day.
The trial opened on 4 June 2007 in The Hague. It was adjourned immediately after the Prosecution's opening statement when Mr. Taylor dismissed his Defence team and requested new representation. Witness testimony commenced on 7 January 2008, and ended on 12 November 2010. Closing arguments took place in February and March 2011.
The Court heard live testimony from 94 prosecution witnesses, and received written statements from four additional witnesses. The Defence presented 21 witnesses, with Mr. Taylor testifying in his defense.

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The need for post-war justice is a step toward lasting peace, stability and prosperity for Liberia, West Africa. Without justice, peace shall remain elusive and investment in Liberia will not produce the intended results. -Bernard Gbayee Goah 
 Also see: "Inside Liberia with Bernard Gbayee Goah" at: http://bernardgoah.blogspot.com/
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Inside Liberia with Bernard Gbayee Goah

Everyone is a genius

Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. – A Einstein

Drawing the line in Liberia

Crimes sponsored, committed, or masterminded by handful of individuals cannot be blamed upon an entire nationality. In this case, Liberians! The need for post-war justice is a step toward lasting peace, stability and prosperity for Liberia. Liberia needs a war crimes tribunal or some credible legal forum that is capable of dealing with atrocities perpetrated against defenseless men, women and children during the country's brutal war. Without justice, peace shall remain elusive and investment in Liberia will not produce the intended results. - Bernard Gbayee Goah



Men with unhealthy characters should not champion any noble cause

They pretend to advocate the cause of the people when their deeds in the dark mirror nothing else but EVIL!!
When evil and corrupt men try to champion a cause that is so noble … such cause, how noble it may be, becomes meaningless in the eyes of the people - Bernard Gbayee Goah.

If Liberia must move forward ...

If Liberia must move forward in order to claim its place as a civilized nation amongst world community of nations, come 2017 elections, Liberians must critically review the events of the past with honesty and objectivity. They must make a new commitment to seek lasting solutions. The track records of those who are presenting themselves as candidates for the position of "President of the Republic of Liberia" must be well examined. Liberians must be fair to themselves because results from the 2011 elections will determine the future of Liberia’s unborn generations to come - Bernard Gbayee Goah

Liberia's greatest problem!

While it is true that an individual may be held responsible for corruption and mismanagement of funds in government, the lack of proper system to work with may as well impede the process of ethical, managerial, and financial accountability - Bernard Gbayee Goah

What do I think should be done?

The situation in Liberia is Compound Complex and cannot be fixed unless the entire system of government is reinvented.
Liberia needs a workable but uncompromising system that will make the country an asylum free from abuse, and other forms of corruption.
Any attempt to institute the system mentioned above in the absence of rule of law is meaningless, and more detrimental to Liberia as a whole - Bernard Gbayee Goah

Liberia's Natural Resources
Besides land water and few other resources, most of Liberia’s dependable natural resources are not infinite, they are finite and therefore can be depleted.
Liberia’s gold, diamond, and other natural resources will not always be an available source of revenue generation for its people and its government. The need to invent a system in government that focuses on an alternative income generation method cannot be over emphasized at this point - Bernard Gbayee Goah

Liberia needs a proper system
If Liberians refuse to erect a proper system in place that promotes the minimization of corruption and mismanagement of public funds by government institutions, and individuals, there will come a time when the value of the entire country will be seen as a large valueless land suited on the west coast of Africa with some polluted bodies of waters and nothing else. To have no system in place in any country is to have no respect for rule of law. To have no respect for rule of law is to believe in lawlessness. And where there is lawlessness, there is always corruption - Bernard Gbayee Goah

Solving problems in the absence of war talks

As political instability continues to increase in Africa, it has become abundantly clear that military intervention as a primary remedy to peace is not a durable solution. Such intervention only increases insecurity and massive economic hardship. An existing example which could be a valuable lesson for Liberia is Great Britain, and the US war on terror for the purpose of global security. The use of arms whether in peace keeping, occupation, or invasion as a primary means of solving problem has yield only little results. Military intervention by any country as the only solution to problem solving will result into massive military spending, economic hardship, more fear, and animosity as well as increase insecurity. The alternative is learning how to solve problems in the absence of war talks. The objective of such alternative must be to provide real sustainable human security which cannot be achieved through military arm intervention, or aggression. In order to achieve results that will make the peaceful coexistence of all mankind possible, there must be a common ground for the stories of all sides to be heard. I believe there are always three sides to every story: Their side of the story, Our side of the story, and The truth – Bernard Gbayee Goah

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