Diplomat Charged With Murder

…Others Held in Court for M/land Ritual Cases

With suspicion dangling as to who made be directly linked to the Maryland County ritualistic killing imbroglio, reports from Cape Palmas say Internal Affairs Mr. Dan Morias and seven others were formally being charged while several others were release on the basis of lack of sufficient evidence to implicate and link them for prosecution while others who were released were also rearrested following revelations linking them.

The state said it had earlier released some of those held in connection with the alleged act based on the lack of sufficient evidence against them. Those reportedly released include Isaac Moore, a prominent citizen of the county, Henry Cole, local Chief of Office Staff and Walmle Elloit, a former Superintendent of the county.

The prosecution and release of some categories of suspects of the Harper ritualistic killing case came in the wake of reports of rising tension in Harper, Maryland County, after initial reports that Mr. Fulton Yancy was formerly charged for the murder of a 7-month old pregnant woman with her unborn child extracted for alleged human sacrifice.

The older brother of Cllr. Fulton Yancy, Mr. Allen Yancy, and several others, were convicted of the crime in 1977 and hanged in 1978.

Mr. Allen Yancy’s hanging by the William R. Tolbert Administration of the True
Whig Party at the time defied protests from members of the ruling class, who wanted Yancy shielded on ground that the convicted Yancy served as Vice President and chair of the lone ruling party, the True Whig Party.

Police sources in Monrovia, in the case involving his Fulton and other prominent Marylanders, earlier hinted that 23 persons, including the County's Development Superintendent, were arrested, prompting Justice Minister Christiana Tah to have flown to Harper where she held a citizens' meeting there.

Another top official arrested in connection with the crime Dan Morias, listed in the Truth and Reconciliation report for abuses when he served as Minister of Internal Affairs in the Charles Taylor regime. He now served as Special Envoy for the current Government.

Our Maryland Correspondent informed The NEW VISION that former Internal Affairs Minister and Ambassador At large Dan Morias and Six other persons who were recently rounded-up by the government in connection to recent cases of ritualistic killings in Harper, have been formally charged with murder and arraigned in court.

Reports named those accused along with Mr. Morias as Hudo Clark, the County's Chief Inspector, William Wallace a youth leader of the county, Madam Lucy Harmon and Alfred Thompson a District Commissioner in the county.

Reports further indicated that the above men were taken to court under tense security atmosphere. The reports also indicated that curious reporters who were following the case were turned down from covering the court proceedings.

But our correspondent in Harper told the NEW VISION via mobile phone that Ambassador Morias and other culprits were taken to court handcuffed as always cone to ‘common criminals’ or defendants in the criminal justice system of Liberia.

With journalists barred from the court proceeding, our correspondent who contacted the prosecutor, County Attorney Aloysius S. K. Alison on the nature of the proceedings, said attorney Alison declined to comment for reason that “The government has advised me against making public comments while the case was legally commencing.”

According to reporters in Harper, the Justice Ministry had released two of the alleged suspects, Alfred Thompson and Hudo Clark, but they both men were later rearrested and arraigned before the Harper Magisterial Court after 'revelation' allegedly linking them to the case were made.

Although no clear justifications as to the reasons for their re-arrest not made safe for what was referred to as revelation linking the reasserted accused, it was said that release after previous arrest was characterized by euphoria by local people in the county, who were show-casing the traditional war dance in support for the release of the accused.


Witch doctor evidence insufficient

Late last week, the accused were rounded up by the government after it was reported that traditional witch doctors have uncovered that they masterminded and carried out most of the ritualistic killings in the county. Two of the killings, allegedly involved a pregnant woman and a girl who were murdered with several parts extracted for alleged ritual purposes.

The men were arrested following series of protest actions by some local people in the county who raised alarm over the killings and called for justice in the matter.But the Liberian government through the Ministry of Justice has made it clear, that while it does not support the killings of innocent people, witch doctor's evidence is not admissible in the case.

In may be recalled that the Ministries of Justice, Internal Affairs, and Information disclosed in a joint news conference recently that investigations in the Maryland County ritualistic situation must be handled with care, because according to them, the penalty of ritualistic is death, therefore investigation needs to be thoroughly conducted without prejudice.

Noting that it would be problematic to use a witch doctor evidence which she said is only a list of people for arrest for prosecution, Justice Minister Tah furthered that the witch doctor is not a judicial officer to have assumed the enforcement of search warrant along with police and court officers.


Two bottles of blood discovered

According to even if it is with the court officers such collect information and evidence by a witch doctor is not proper, and that the government would only proceed with the case judicially when proper evidence are gathered linking people that may be liable.

Minister Tah said information gathered from the preliminary investigation revealed that the witch doctor along with a Sheriff from one of the courts in the county went to Cllr. Yancy's home and a girl working with Cllr. Yancy was instructed by the witch doctor to get 2 bottles in a corner of the house. The Minister quoted the information gathered as saying that the girl did as she was commanded, and brought forth the two bottles containing a liquid. Minister Tarr also said that there was no indication as to what was in the bottle.

The Justice Minister also disclosed that when his office contacted the accused (Cllr. Yancy), he denied the allegation, but blamed it on the witch doctor that the bottles were placed in there by the witch doctor only to implicate him.

During the news conference at the Justice Ministry, Minister Tarr said the two bottles with the dark liquid in it that is alleged to be blood, have since been transferred to Neighboring Ivory Coast for examination to detest whether it is a blood or not.

But Cllr, Yancy was since being held for murder and is at the Maryland
Prison compound awaiting court trial. He was charged as a result of the dark liquid which some considered as blood.

The Minister said Government has learnt a lot of lessons from the Lofa County saga, so, investigators will do their best to go in detail to investigate allegation involving these personality of the county.

Minister Tar said Government is doing everything possible to get to the bottom of the matter while it is presently holding consultation with citizens of the area to understand as to what is actually unfolding in Harper, Maryland County. She said though, the act of ritualistic killing is not a new phenomenon in that county, but it must come to an end.

This issue came about as a result of the disappearance of a 19- year old boy, James Morias and the eye witnessed butchering of one Jestina who was also killed recently by unknown persons.

The Justice Minister said government is not taking the issues lightly
because it involved lives and therefore they had consultation with several groups of the county making them to understand the legal implication of ritualistic perpetrators.


President Sirleaf concerned

Justice Minister Christiana Tah, also said President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was concerned about the peace and tranquility of the region.

“We have reports of the disappearance of individuals in the last month; we’ve
had reports of two individuals disappearing – a 19 year-old boy and then a young girl whose age is underdetermined disappeared. In both cases we have not seen any bodies. There’s no evidence that they have been killed. They just simply disappeared,” she said.

But Tah said President Sirleaf dispatched her and the internal affairs minister to the region because the residents there were becoming very anxious and tension was building in the region.

She said adding to the tension in the region was the fact that a witch doctor
provided the list from which the 18 suspects were arrested.

“We had 18 persons arrested based on a list that had been produced by a
traditional doctor upon which a warrant was obtained to search the homes of these suspects. This also is not consistent with our laws,” Tah said.

Maryland County is notorious for ritualistic killings. In 1977, Allen Yancy, vice president and chair of the then ruling True Whig Party was hang after being found guilty for the same practice.

In the latest episode, Counselor Fulton Yancy, a prominent government official in Maryland County is reportedly among the 23 suspects. Some reports said a bottle of human blood and the intestines of a dead child were found in Mr. Yancy’s home.

But Justice Minister Tah said her ministry knows of no human parts being found in people’s houses. “What we do know at this time was that two very small bottles were found in the home of Counselor Yancy. People speculate that what was in the bottles may have been blood and some human tissues. We do not know this for a fact. The Ministry has agreed to have the specimens sent to Ivory Coast for examination,” Tah said.

Tah said President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s government is concerned about instability in the region and the fact that the residents do not feel secured in their homes as a result of the alleged ritualistic killings.

“We are doing whatever we can to ensure that we try to get rid of this problem
because we are concerned about the peace and tranquility in that area. People tell me that they feel captive in their own homeland; they are not free to get out in the night to go to the bathroom or to go to the club. The young children are afraid to go out alone to the beaches,” Tah said.

She said President Sirleaf’s government has stepped up security and increased
the number of investigators to make the citizens of the region regain confidence in the rule of law. The Justice Minister also said the government has reopened some alleged ritualistic killings cases that had been closed and unsolved.

Tah said Liberians have been getting a lot of rumors and misinformation about the developments in country’s southeastern region of Maryland County.

She said she will try to set the record straight at her Tuesday news conference
in the capital, Monrovia.

Meaanwhile, latest report says Ambassador Morias has been released by the Magisterial Court in Harper for lack of evidence agaainst him. Correspondents say the court argued that no substance or evidence id found in his possession of residence as it was the case in others.

It is yet to be determined whether or not further investigation would remand the diplomat into custody based on allegations of ritual killings.