MONROVIA: Trial into Sable Mining bribery scandal involving top political figures, including Senator Varney Sherman and former House Speaker Alex Tyler has resumed at the Temple of Justice in Monrovia.
Report By Massa Kanneh_masskanneh4@gmail.com
The Supreme Court recently mandated Criminal Court ‘C’ at the Temple of Justice to resume jurisdiction over the matter, after accepting the prosecutor’s request to have their controversial email and spreadsheet, vital evidence believed to be an alleged communication between Sherman and Sable Mining.
Global Witness had alleged that Sable Mining through their Liberian lawyers, Sherman & Sherman, including Cllr. Varney G. Sherman, conspired to alter Liberia’s Public Procurement and Concession law to increase the mining company’s chances at acquiring a concession to mine iron ore in the Wologizi Mountain, Lofa County
At the beginning of the trial, the defendants Senator Varney Sherman, Alex Tyler and six current and former government officials begun with a motion to delete names of the Sable Mining Company and Andrew Grooves and others who did not show up during previous trial in 2017.
In April 2018, the Supreme Court ordered a new trial after defense lawyers filed a writ of Certiorari requesting new trial.
The defense during the previous trial 2017 filed a resistance to criminal court “C” Judge YamieGbessey ruling of temporarily marking email transactions among the defendants.
The Sable Mining case raised serious public concern, when a report emerged from Global Witness that several officials of ex-President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf were allegedly involved in corrupt transactions.
The report outlined that over ninety thousand United States dollars was distributed among the defendants as bribe to secure the Wologisi Mountain contract in Lofa County for Sable Mining.
