Monrovia — The Public Interest Law Advocacy Center (PILAC) operating in Liberia has filed a writ of prohibition to the Supreme Court of Liberia against the decision taken by the Government of Liberia (GOL) to arbitrarily arrest and deport the former Superintendent of Police of Sierra Leone Mohammed Yaetey Turay to his homeland without any due process.
The Supreme Court is the final arbiter of justice in Liberia.
Comprising of a group of lawyers, PILAC is a part of the Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA) which seeks to promote and protect the legal interest of the public and communities against bad governance, among others. As the name depicts, the group fights for the upholding of the laws in the interest of the public. Alieu Kaidii is the Director of PILAC.
The Ministry of Justice thru the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Republic of Liberia, Cllr. Frank Musa Dean, Jr. and all those operating under the scope of his authority, the Liberian National Police Thru the Inspector General Patrick Sudue, & all those operating under the scope of his Authority, and Independent Human Rights Commission of Liberia (IHRCL) thru its Chairperson, and all those operating under the scope of the Commission Authority are the respondents to the petition.
The petitioners include PILAC and Mr. Turay.
In a seven-count petition filed to the Justice-in-Chambers of the Supreme Court, Yarmie Gbeisay, a copy which is in the possession of FrontPage Africa, the petitioners claimed that Mohammed Yaetey Turay, former Chief Superintendent of the Sierra Leonean Police, who came to Liberia more than a year ago was recently arrested by officers of the Liberian National Police and detained on allegation of being complicit in an attempted coup plot against the Government of President Maada Bio of the sisterly Republic of Sierra Leone.
It added that PILAC as a Public Interest Advocacy Organization, registered as a not-for-profit organization under the Association Laws of Liberia, for the purpose of engaging and undertaking advocacy and litigation on behalf, and for the interest, of the general public, with the aim of strengthening the Rule of Law and fighting corruption and bad governance, representing, acting bona fide in the public interest, and having sufficient interest to right public wrong and redress public injury, has a legal standing to bring this suit, on behalf of Mr. Turay and the public against the Respondents.
According to the petitioners, the government, through its respondents, is acting in "bad faith and in breach of their constitutional oath of office and statutory mandate to faithfully execute the laws of the Republic of Liberia."
The petitioners stated that Mr. Turay is a Sierra Leonean National, an ECOWAS Citizen who came to Liberia months ago and has been in Liberia and living here in peace without any problems was recently arrested and detained by officers of the LNP and the Respondents publicly issued statement of threats to extradite him to the Republic of Sierra Leone in flagrant violation of his constitutional rights to due process of Law.
They maintained that Mr. Turay's rights to judicial hearing and process guaranteed under Chapter 8 of the Criminal Procedural Law, (Title II, Liberian Code of Laws, Revised I) were allegedly violated by the Liberian government.
Chapter 8 of the Criminal Procedural Law, (Title II, Liberian Code of Laws, Revised I) states that: (a)The term "extradition arrangement" means any treaty, convention, or executive agreement providing for reciprocal rights to the surrender of fugitives apprehended in the territory of the parties thereto. (b)The term "fugitive" means any person within the Republic of Liberia who is accused or has been convicted of an extraditable offense within the jurisdiction of a foreign state. (c)The term "political offense" includes any offense for which there is substantial ground to believe that the person to be extradited will be punished as a political offender.
The petitioners emphasized that the Writ of Prohibition "shall issue or cause the clerk to issue a citation to the parties named respondents, if the urgency of the situation warrants, .requiring the respondents to do an act or to refrain from pursuing a judicial action or proceeding against Mr.Turay.
They stressed that the government's threats to remove Mr. Turay from the bailiwick of the Republic of Liberia and bodily take him back to the sisterly Republic of Sierra Leone is also in clear violation of Chapter 8 Requirements of the Criminal Procedure (On Extradition), which could expose him (Turay) to summary execution and termination of his life, and denial of Due Process and Fair Hearing.
Under these exigent circumstances, the petitioners justified that, a Writ of Prohibition shall restrain the Liberian government not to take him to Sierra Leone until he is accorded Due Process of Law in Liberia and only after judicial determination of his state of affairs and the propriety and otherwise of the request for extradition.
The petitioners are claiming not to know the whereabouts of Mr. Turay, despite reports that he has been extradited to Sierra Leone.
They contended that the prohibition shall lie to afford them the relief for which no other plain, speedy, and adequate remedy currently exists.
"The PETITIONERS in the above captioned Petition pray your Honor and this Honorable Court for the issuance of the extraordinary Writ of Prohibition against the within-named Respondents for violation of Chapter III, Article 20 (a), ((C), (f) of Liberian Constitution (1986, as amended), and for breach of the constitutional oath of office to UPHOLD the laws of the Republic and by their failure to comply with Chapter 8 of the Criminal Procedural Law, (Title II, Liberian Code of Laws, Revised I, for the following factual and legal reasons to wit."
"WHEREFORE AND IN VIEW of the foregoing, Petitioners most respectfully pray Your Honor and this Honorable Court to: Order the issuance of the Alternative Writ of Prohibition against the Respondents and by it requires them to file their Returns and show cause expeditiously to be fixed by Your Honor, as to why the peremptory Writ of Prohibition should not issue. After hearing, order the issuance of the peremptory Writ of Mandamus, compelling and mandating the Respondents to: Refrain from any act of extradition of 1st Petitioner (Turay) until Respondents FULLY COMPLY with the Due Process provisions of the 1986 Constitution of Liberia (as amended) as well as Chapter 8 Requirements of the Criminal Procedure Law of Liberia."
The Petitioners also want the court to grant unto them other further relief that would be deemed just, legal and equitable as in the judgment of the Justice-In-Chambers.
No extradition document
Mr. Turay was dismissed from the Sierra Leonean Police in May 2020 by President Bio. He fled the country and has been residing in Liberia since March 2022.
Early this month, the Liberian government succumbed to extradition request made by the Sierra Leonean government to turn him over after President Bio claimed that he was involved in the planning of a coup plot that recently failed in the country.
He was extradited following a request made by Montserrado County Attorney, Cllr. Alhaji Sesay for Criminal Court 'A' to subpoena the two leading GSM companies in Liberia to provide Mr. Turay's call logs from the period of June 1 to August 4- at the time the alleged coup was being planned for investigation.
Following the recent, Mr. Turay was arrested by the LNP on the orders of Bio's government for investigation and subsequent prosecution.
The Liberian government bowed to the request, despite the lack of a permanent extradition agreement between the two nations.
"The Sierra Leone government gave us assurances that the rights of the accused will be respected, including his rights to a free, fair, and speedy trial. And based on an investigation that we conducted, it is appropriate to hand over Turay as requested," the Liberian government stated in a release following the extradition of the former Sierra Leonean police chief.
Though the move made by the government has been questioned, it claimed that its decision was in keeping with the Liberian laws and the 1986 Non-Aggression Security Treaty entered into by the Governments of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.
It also claimed that the decision was in line with the 1994 ECOWAS Convention,."
Objecting the extradition
Prior to the extradition of Mr. Turay, the Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INHCR) urged the Liberian government to avoid the action.
The commission raised alarm over the alleged violations of international laws and human rights if the former Police Chief was extradited to Sierra Leone.
"Recollecting that both Sierra Leone and Liberia are signatories to several regional and international instruments including the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and the ECOWAS Convention on Extradition, the extradition shall not be granted if the offense in respect of which is requested is regarded as a political offense or as an offense connected with a political offense", the commission stated.
It maintained: "The extradition should not happen if there are substantial grounds for believing that a request for extradition for an ordinary criminal offense has been made for the purpose of prosecuting or punishing a person on account of race, tribe, religion, nationality, political opinion, sex, or status."
The INCHR predicted that the government's action would lead to the possibility where Mr. Turay is subjected to torture or cruel, inhumane punishment -- which will violate Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and People's Rights or other fundamental principles of human rights.
"Also, under our Criminal Procedure Law, Section 8.3 and the Geneva Convention which Liberia signed and ratified. The Republic of Liberia should not honor the request of the Sierra Leone Government to extradite Turay because there is no extradition agreement between the two countries," the Commission added.
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Violations
The extradition of Mr. Turay without any due process by the Liberian government clearly violates the Non-refoulement concept of international law.
Non-refoulement is a concept which prohibits States from returning a refugee or
asylum seeker to territories where there is a risk that his or her life or freedom would be threatened on account of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.
This concept is relevant in a number of contexts-principally, but not exclusively, of a treaty nature. Its best known expression for present purposes is in Article 33 of the 1951Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
Article 33 of the 1951Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees states that:
1.No Contracting State shall expel or return ('refouler') a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.
Liberia is a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, its 1967 Protocol, and the 1969 OAU Convention. Liberia is also signatory to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.
PILAC believes that Mr. Turay is still in the custody of the Liberian government, despite reports of his extradition to Sierra Leone under the cover of darkness.
Officers of the Sierra Leonean army were posted at the police headquarters in Monrovia when news of his extradition broke out in the country.
However, it remains unclear whether or not he would be sent to Liberia for due process since in fact, he resided here as a refugee and he was not fully charged and taken to court prior to his extradition.
Political opponents and critics of the government are sensing the move made by the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) of President George Manneh Weah as a calculated attempt to prevent them and others seeking refuge or departing Liberia for fear of losing their lives in Sierra Leone.
They see the extradition of Turay as an "assurance or agreement" between the two nations that any political opponents or critics on the run would be arrested by both governments and turn over for prosecution.
