Liberia: Release of Capitol Arson Defendants’ Medical Report Deferred

After waiting patiently for ten days to know the medical conditions of six defendants jailed in connection with the December 2024 arson attack on the Capitol Building, their families will now have to wait until September 24, about six days, before the AMI Expeditionary Healthcare Medical Center’s examination report can be released, according to a new notice of assignment.

The Criminal Court ‘ A” had initially scheduled Thursday, September 18, as a date for AMI to release its medical examination report.

Though there is no detailed information about the new date, it was reliably heard that the state lawyers were dissatisfied with the medical report from AMI.

According to the source, the prosecution is demanding a new medical examination by the AMI Hospital.

The dispute arose after Criminal Court ‘A’ Judge Roosevelt Willie ordered AMI to medically assess the detained defendants to determine whether they had been tortured or sodomized during their time in National Security Agency (NSA) custody.

The judge’s order stemmed from the defendants’ claims that key evidence–such as NSA phone call logs–had been extracted through coercion and abuse.

However, many of the families, who had crowded the courtyard, in anticipation of hearing from the medical examination report, left from there disappointed on Thursday, September 18.

Some of them expressed concern, while the court did not take a firm stance, to compel the release of the medical examination report.

The court had earlier ruled that the examinations must be conducted at AMI, and findings be released by yesterday, despite strong resistance from the defense lawyers, questioning the neutrality of the hospital.

The defense lawyers had initially refused to accept the court’s first recommended John F. Kennedy Medical Center.

However, their rejections of the JFK prompted Judge Roosevelt Willie to personally designate the AMI Hospital, even though similar contention was raised against the AMI.

“The Court has said that we have to wait for the decision of the state lawyers, before it releases the medical examination report,” a family member, who doesn’t want to be identified, said.

However, this simply allows the state lawyers to continue to act complacently whilst my brother remains detained in life-threatening conditions, another person noted.

” I find it astonishing, that given the huge amount of evidence of torture by the NSA, that the court cannot – or will not – reach a judgment on what happened to our relatives,” a female family member, who wept deeply said.

From the start, the defense team’s argument of rejecting the court-mandated hospital was because, according to the lawyers, the AMI is an existing contract facility of the Government of Liberia by and through the Ministry of Justice and the Liberia National Police.

To prove this, the defense lawyers argued that when Co-defendant Thomas Etheridge was arrested, tortured and compelled to confess, he collapsed and he was taken to AMI, where they determined that he collapsed due to malaria despite the torture and beating he has received.

They further argued AMI is the same as JFK and the defendants do not trust the integrity of the AMI Hospital.

“The Defense requested Your Honor to an independent examination by any independent facility not connected to the Government of Liberia. AMI and JFK are both connected to the Government and the fact that the Prosecution interposed no objection to the Motion as filed,” they said, justifying their decision.

But Judge Willie dismissed the requests and recommended the AMI Hospital.

According to Willie, the AMI Expeditionary Medical Healthcare is an internationally acclaimed institution and operates in several countries to include but not limited to the United States of America (USA), South Africa, Sierra Leone, Liberia, etc.

After publicly lavishing praise of the hospital’s international reputation, Willie proceeded to mandate his clerk to write to the said institution for the examination to be conducted and results forwarded to this Court on or before Wednesday, September 17, 2025, at 3:00pm.

He however ordered the Ministry of Justice, the prosecution to underwrite the cost of these examinations.

It can be recalled that the defense lawyers formally objected to a court order mandating medical examinations at the government-run John F. Kennedy Medical Center (JFK).

The defense instead filed a motion requesting an independent medical examination, alleging that several of the defendants were subjected to torture and abuse while in the custody of state security agencies.

Judge Willie stated: “The Court realized that there is one ground that is factual, and that ground is torture and sodomization,” adding “So, the Court decided not to do the ruling today but to find out through medical investigation as to whether the defendants were tortured.”

He then directed the court clerk to liaise with JFK, via the Monrovia Central Prison, to conduct the medical examination and report findings to the Court by Tuesday, September 9, 2025.

However, the defense lawyers objected to the court’s reliance on JFK, citing its affiliation with the Government of Liberia and a formal memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Justice to provide medical services for pretrial detainees and prisoners.

They argued that such a relationship creates a conflict of interest and undermines the credibility of any medical assessment conducted by JFK.

By Liberian Observer.