The Government has announced that it is in receipt of a communication from the family of the late Princess Cooper, who was found dead in March, requesting the body of the deceased for burial without the agreed second autopsy.
In a statement issued Thursday May 26, the Government said the request by the deceased family is contrary to an initial agreement involving the family, their lawyer, and some civil society organizations for a second autopsy to be conducted by a pathologist the family will select.
However, the government noted in its statement that it remains very committed to conducting the autopsy that was requested by Princess' family to allay all the allegations and claims regarding the cause of her death, in order to bring proper closure to this matter.
"Her family, in keeping with the government's commitment to facilitate and fund the conduct of a second autopsy by their designated pathologist, recommended in April a practitioner from the Philippines named Doctor Ritualo
The office of the Attorney General immediately made contact with Dr. Ritualo. Email exchanges began in which the Attorney General requested Doctor Ritualo to send his CV and License that qualify him as a medical doctor and pathologist for onward presentation to the Liberia Medical and Dental Association in keeping with the law and professional medical standards in Liberia," excerpts of the government's statement said.
The statement further noted that since the doctor was asked to submit a copy of his license to operate as a pathologist, a requirement of the Liberia Medical and Dental Council, he has not been heard from. It said many attempts by the Minister of Justice to get Doctor Ritualo to comply with his request have yielded no result.
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"The Cooper family was duly informed of this lack of communication, through their representative Dr. Abel Momo, their Lawyer Cllr. Taiwan Gongloe and the President of the Liberia Council of Churches Bishop Kortu Brown.
The government wants to make it categorically clear that it remains open to bringing in any other pathologist of the family's will," the statement added.
The government further stated that regardless of the many overtures made through the Attorney General to lend support to the bereaved family in their quest to bring closure to the circumstances surrounding the death of Princess Cooper, some have opted to politicize the matter.
Meanwhile, it said the Minister of Justice, Cllr. Frank Musa Dean as a further demonstration of goodwill, will convene a discussion with the family, their lawyer, the inter-religious Council, and any other civil society organization interested in providing assistance in this matter to find an amicable solution to the stalemate.
