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MONROVIA – Lawyers for the political leader of the Alternative National Congress, Mr. Alexander Cummings, have taken serious exception to calls from Solicitor General for the submission of proof of travel from Mr. Cummings who has just returned from attending to his ailing mother in the United States of America.
The Ministry of Justice on Thursday filed a Bill of Information with the Monrovia City Court, informing the court that Cummings was yet to present to the court photocopies of his ticket(s) to and from America; flight number and name, from Liberia-Ghana; and from Ghana- United States; and United States to Liberia, if any; the date of departure to United States and date of return; and a photocopy of his current Liberian passport with an American visa inside.
The Justice Ministry argued that the granting of the brief voluntary absence on continuance of the trial was on condition that he would present proof of travel for the purpose stated upon his return.
According to the Ministry of Justice, it circumspect and did not raise any further objection because Co-Defendant Cummings had two separate and distinct options, and that is, he was required to produce these documents either before or after his travel, and based on this, the Ministry of Justice had selected the last option which instructed that he would produce the selfsame documents upon his return to the country
But contesting the Ministry of Justice’s request, Cummings’ lawyers, cited Section 2.4(2) of the Criminal Procedure Law which provides a defendant in a criminal proceeding the right of brief voluntary absence, which may be exercised without any specified condition.
“The law and facts are clear in this matter, and Mr. Cummings is not obliged to provide information post travel, and will not join in any argument without legal basis. The fact of the matter is that, Co-defendant Alexander Cummings invoked his right and applied to the court for brief voluntary absence and the court granted the application based on the law against the Solicitor General’s frivolous resistance,” Cllr. Abrahim Sillah stated.
Cllr. Sillah further stated that the Solicitor General resisted Mr. Cummings application when he sought to travel to attend to his ailing mother in the United States.
Cllr. Cephus at the time of the application for leave of court, requested the Stipendiary Magistrate of the Monrovia City Court (City Court), Jomah S. Jallah, to order Mr. Cummings to state his (i) date of travel and name of the airline (Flight), ticket Number, (iii) place of travel and duration, and (iv) date of return and airline.
Magistrate Jallah denied the resistance and granted Mr. Cummings application for brief voluntary absence on continuance of the trial because the law does not require a defendant in a criminal proceeding to produce that information requested by the Solicitor General as condition precedent for exercise of his right under the law.
Cllr. Sillah: “Notwithstanding the clear language of the law, the Solicitor General, out of vexation, prejudice and personal vendetta against Mr. Cummings, sought review of Magistrate Jallah’s ruling before the First Judicial Circuit, Criminal Assizes ” A”, and His Honor Rooselvet Z. Willie issued an order and stayed all proceedings in the matter pending a hearing of the parties. Nonetheless the illegality of the Solicitor General’s resistance and application for summary proceeding, Mr. Cummings defense team accepted to provide and did provide the Solicitor General all the pieces of information requested in his resistance and his application to Judge Willie. The pieces of information were contained in a letter dated March 11, 2022, addressed and delivered to the office of the Solicitor General, Ministry of Justice, which he acknowledged and attached to his bill of information. Enclosed and attached to the letter was Mr. Cummings’ airline ticket, which provided the following pieces of information requested by the Solicitor General.”
But the Ministry of Justice now argues that now that Co-defendant Alexander B. Cummings has safely traveled out of the country and has peacefully returned, he must do the right thing by producing these documents including but not limited to the photocopy his current Liberian passport with an American visa inside to satisfy two basic fundamental conditions, namely (1) to prove to the court that indeed he has traveled to the United States to see his ailing mother, and thereby comply with the mandate of Judge Willie; and (2) finally to allay the suspicions of the Ministry of Justice and other misinformation being spread in the public domain that he did not travel to the United States as he had earlier indicated in his sworn submission.
According to the Ministry, while it seems tempted to express remorse of conscience for the ailment defendant Cummings’ his 92 years old mother believed to be a senior citizen of this Republic, the Ministry Justice is, however, unconvinced that defendant Cummings actually traveled to the United States and therefore calls upon him to gather the moral fortitude by producing to the court all of the documents referenced, including but not limited to his current Liberian passport with an American visa inside.
The Ministry of Justice further stated that it shall not and will not be distracted from making these demands and hereby advises defendant Cummings to understand that the production of these documents including but not limited to the photocopy of his current Liberian passport with a US visa inside before or after his travel out of the country was a key condition upon which the prosecution had interposed no objection to his travel request.
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