The office of the War and Economic Crimes Court in Liberia has come in strong defense of Cllr. Jonathan Massaquoi amid fear of creeping conflict of interest from human rights advocacy groups.
Cllr. Massaquoi's appointment to spearhead the establishment of the War and Economic Crimes Court in Liberia by President Joseph Nyuma Boakai has sparked the controversy surrounding reliance on Cllr. Massaquoi's fairness in the balance between justice for victims and the complexities of his legal representation in post-conflict societies.
Cllr. Massaquoi is a Licensed Attorney and member of the Supreme Court Bar of Liberia, with approximately 15 years of experience working in both civil and criminal procedure laws, ensuring adherence to the rule of law, ensuring accountability and justice, ensuring the protection and prevention of criminal offenses, adept at drafting and reviewing policies, as well as, providing legal representations for indigents and minority groups.
However, The Coalition for the Establishment of War and Economic Crimes Court in Liberia and the human rights community said they are troubled by said appointment.
"The Courts in Liberia and the human rights community are deeply troubled by the appointment of Cllr. Massaquoi to facilitate efforts on the creation of the court that will prosecute alleged perpetrators and bring justice to victims and survivors of Liberia's two civil wars," Adama Kiatamba Dempster, a war and economic crimes court campaigner, said in a statement issued in Monrovia.
The War and Economic Crimes Court campaigners echoed serious "misgivings" concerning Cllr. Massaquoi's role as a defense lawyer for perpetrators of alleged war crimes, surmising conflict of interest, adding that they were baffled by an endorsement of Cllr. Massaquoi, by US Congressman Chris Smith, without contemplating seriously the allegation of Massaquoi's role in defending alleged war fugitives. They called on the international community's attention to their qualms.
However, the Office of the War and Economic Crimes Court in Liberia has disputed the assertion that Cllr. Massaquoi's supervision at the WECC Liberia Office would develop a conflict of interest.
The office, in a statement issued Monday, June 24, noted that the argument raised by the Coalition for the Establishment of War and Economic Crimes Court in Liberia and Human Rights Community is intended to create a side track from strives being made by Liberia to break away from the culture of impunity, instituting justice and accountability, aimed at setting the country on the trajectory to the adherence of the rule of law.
According to the office, these rights advocates "have set themselves up as a side track by manifesting unsolicited ignorance of how a criminal justice system both locally and internationally works, including the legal role of lawyers.
Against said backdrop, they clarified that Article 21. (i) of the 1986 Constitution states, "the right to counsel and the rights of counsel shall be inviolable. There shall be no interference with the lawyer-client relationship. In all trials, hearings, interrogatories, and other proceedings where a person is accused of a criminal offense, the accused shall have the right to counsel of his choice; and where the accused is unable to secure such representation, the Republic shall make available legal aid services to ensure the protections of his rights."
Additionally, the office said that there shall be absolute protection from any government sanctions or interference in the performance of legal services as a counselor or advocate; lawyers' offices and homes shall not be searched or papers examined or taken safe under a search warrant and court order.
"No lawyer shall be prevented from or punished for providing legal services, regardless of the charges against or the guilt of his client, no lawyer shall be barred from practice for political reasons," they added.
Hence, the office of WECC-Liberia said it is baffled to hear Human rights advocates, who should be moral guarantors of the Constitution of Liberia in the protection of the fundamental rights of all citizens, including the right to equal opportunity for work and employment, and not only Accra Peace Accord of 2003, petitioning the government to openly violate Article 21 (1) due to "self-aggrandizement and appeasement, and not on the merit of any moral and ethical breach."
The office noted that the non-interference with the lawyer-client relationship, and absolute immunity from any sanctions or interference in the performance of legal services as a counselor or advocate is not unique to Liberia but constitutes a fundamental pillar of international crime law.
"The Office of War & Economic Crimes Court submits that the legal profession is the only profession/vocation that is constitutionally protected and, as such, no government can sanction or reprimand any lawyer for performing his or her constitutional duty," a statement from the WECC-Liberia Secretariat noted.
"Simply put, LAWYERS ARE NOT PARTY TO A CASE! Moreover, all criminal defendants have a right to a lawyer of his/her choice in a criminal case, thus creating a lawyer-client relationship in which no government agency or court of law can deprive a lawyer from holding public office."
These litanies of precedents, the office maintained, are under both our criminal justice system and the international criminal justice system that allude to that fundamental principle.
It further: "We shall take recourse to the International Criminal Court, (ICC), and the United States of America. On February 12, 2021, Mr. Karim Ahmad Khan was elected the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Before his election, Mr. Khan between 2006 and 2007 served as the lead defense counsel to former President, Charles Ghankay Taylor, and Mrs. Fatou Sankoh, wife of Foday Sankoh before the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL).
It added "Second, the current Associate Justice of the Federal Supreme Court of the United States of America, Her Honor Ketanji Brown Jackson was a defense counsel for inmates at Guantanamo Bay charged with terrorism and other heinous crimes by the United States of America, and successfully representing those defendant's legal interest; today she sits on the Supreme Court of the United States of America."
The WECC Secretariat argued that accepting the logic that Cllr. Massaquoi's representation of the legal interest of persons allegedly accused of war crimes in Liberia would make him unqualified and compromised to serve as Executive Director of the Office of the War and Economic Crimes Court could equally mean that the Chief Prosecutor of the International Crime Court, Mr. Karim Ahmad Khan, and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson are equally unqualified to occupy their current office.
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They termed the human rights advocacy group contention as being a "lazy and poor school of reasoning."
The statement said these lawyers were performing their duties as defense attorneys and Cllr. Massaquoi is not conflicted by any acts while demonstrating his over fifteen years of legal practice.
The office informed the rights advocacy groups that Cllr. Massaquoi has not also appeared before any grievance and ethics committee for legal missteps, adding that President Boakai's pick as Executive Director to steer the establishment of War and Economics Crime Court is committed to ensuring that the mandate of said office is achieved.
At the same time, the WECC-Liberia has equally welcomed U.S. Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chair of the House Global Human Rights Subcommittee endorsement of President Boakai's appointment of Cllr. Jonathan T. Massaquoi as the Executive Director.
"We can assure our partners both locally and internationally that the people of Liberia who suffered brutal human rights violations and economic crimes for many years shall get the justice they so deserve," the statement added.
The Office said it remains open to engaging with civil society organizations that are sincerely and genuinely involved in the advocacy of accountability and the rule of law in Liberia.
