Monrovia — In a scathing letter to the Minister Cllr. Frank Musah Dean Jr.,Inspector General of Police, Col. Patrick Sudue, expressed his disappointment in the manner in which deputy police chief for Crime Services, Prince B. Mulbah allegedly disregarded established legal procedures and failed to consult with him on the Unity Party headquarters accident case before pressing criminal charges on the suspect.
It can be recalled that on November 20 a driver ran into jubilant supporters of the Unity Party who were celebrating their victory of the November 14 run-off election. The tragic accident left three dead and 25 others sustaining severe injuries. The driver of the vehicle was later identified as Lawrence K. Williams.
The Liberia National Police's Public Safety Division initiated an immediate investigation into the accident, with the Crime Services Department (CSD) later joining to determine if criminal intent was involved.
Inspector General Sudue in his December 1 communication alleged that Deputy Inspector General Mulbah unilaterally decided to press murder charges without thorough investigation and consultation.
The letter revealed that the Deputy Inspector General claimed to have received approval from the Minister of Justice, prompting the Inspector General to express his disagreement.
A scheduled meeting to discuss the case on November 24, 2023, was reportedly thwarted by DIGP Mulbah's refusal to take follow-up calls. Subsequently, the Chief of Public Safety, DCP John Saah, was instructed to continue the accident investigation independently.
Surprisingly, on November 26, 2023, the Inspector General learned that the case had been taken to court on November 25, 2023, without his knowledge. The Inspector General, in the letter, expressed his frustration with the lack of communication and transparency in the process.
According to him, upon reviewing the case file, he highlighted several irregularities, including the alleged linking of the suspect to a political party without proper verification and the issuance of a writ of arrest before presenting the case file to the court.
Col. Sudue highlighted the following mishaps in the investigation:
That the investigation directly linked the suspect to the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) as found in the investigative findings counts 3 & 6 which does not have any bearing on this case, without even contacting the party to authenticate his membership;
That, it is unclear how the investigation derived its conclusion on the claim of gear failure as indicated in count 12 of the investigative findings when the vehicle was totally burnt in the incident;
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That, the premise that the investigator based its findings and conclusions in the case was a mere insinuation and assumption that there was indeed a motive of monetary benefit which was never established as found in count 24 of the investigative findings to derive a murder charge was erroneous and will not lie in court;
That, a writ of arrest on suspect Lawrence K. Williams was issued on Saturday, November 25, 2023 prior to the case file being presented to the court on Monday, November 27, 2023. Sir from my worth of experience, the case file was to be accepted by the court, returns are given before the issuance of a writ of arrest. However, in this case, the writ was issued on Saturday and the case file was forwarded to the court and returns received on Monday, which was in the reverse.
Col. Sudue urged the Minister of Justice to intervene and institute an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the forwarding of the murder case to court without his knowledge. He also requested that evidence supporting the murder charge be made available.
