Gbarnga — The Presiding Judge at the 9th Judicial Circuit Court in Gbarnga, Bong County, His Honor George S. Wiles, Jr. has purged contempt charges against FrontPageAfrica reporter Yawah Y. Jaivey following the reporter's arrest by the Sheriff of the Court on Wednesday.
The court on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, issued a Writ of Arrest for Contempt of Court against Journalist Jaivey for his failure to appear and provide testimonies in an ongoing criminal case involving officials of the Margibi County Health Team.
Upon the arrest of Journalist Jaivey, he appeared at the court along with his legal Counsel, Atty. Samwar S. Fallah.
Atty. Fallah appealed to the court, saying that the delay in the appearance of Journalist Jaivey was not intentional and a disrespect to the court, but that the Managing Editor of the paper, Mr. Rodney D. Sieh, is currently out of country and the journalist needed permission from his boss before appearing on behalf of the institution.
Atty. Fallah also told the court that Managing Editor Sieh has indicated that the paper's lawyers were reviewing the subpoena issued against the management to provide legal advice before the paper could take further action, but surprisingly, the court issued the Writ of Arrest against the paper's reporter.
During the Contempt Hearing, Judge Wiles told the reporter that the Court did not issue the Writ of Arrest for Contempt because the reporter is a Defendant, saying the reporter had committed no crime but was subpoenaed to testify on behalf of the Government of Liberia based on a publication which contributed to the indictment of several individuals on corruption allegations.
The Judge entrusted the journalist to his lawyer and ordered the reporter to be brought back to the Court on Thursday, September 26, 2024 at 9am in order for the reporter to be properly placed under the court's jurisdiction, and to be followed by the setting of a date for the reporter to testify as a Prosecution witness in the ongoing trial.
Several officials of the Margibi County Health Team were indicted for alleged misuse of funding provided by donors for the health program of the county and reporter Jaivey was subpoenaed to testify because the reporter authored an article published in the FrontPageAfrica Volume 17, N0 022 dated Thursday, February 2, 2023 under the caption "Massive Corruption in Margibi County, Leaked Audio Exposes Graft Within the Health System".
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While the trial is ongoing, the court on September 18, 2024 issued a Writ of Subpoena Duces Tecum and ad Testificandum against the Management of FrontPageAfrica, which led to the issuance of a Writ of Arrest for Contempt of Court.
