- Chief Justice Instructs Court Magistrates
By: G Bennie Bravo Johnson
Following several concerns about the tense population of prisoners currently at the Monrovia central prison, the full bench of the supreme court of Liberia has mandated all magistrates of the subordinate to release pre-trial detainees who have committed minor offenses.
The mandate, which was recently issued by the honorable court, directed Magistrates in Montserrado County to release pretrial detainees with minor offenses who had served more than a 30-day jail term.
The mandate comes in the wake of a looming report of a health outbreak at Monrovia Central Prison—South Beach.
Last week, the Prison Superintendent of the Monrovia Central Prison informed reporters that they reverted to rejecting suspect criminals due to overcrowding.
According to prison officials, the prison is overcrowded, and as such, they have vowed not to allow any more inmates until measures are instituted to address overcrowding at the Monrovia Central Prison.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court’s recent decision was the result of a meeting between Justice Minister Frank Musa Dean and Supreme Court Justices in connection with the prison’s massive overcrowding.
The West Point Magisterial Court charged Monrovia Central Prison Superintendent Varney Lake with contempt for not putting a defendant in jail when the court told him to. This led to the decision.
Some inmates reported an outbreak of a strange skin disease at the prison, which the Assistant Justice Minister for Correction could not confirm, but said such an outbreak would be expected if the prison was extremely overcrowded.
