Monrovia, Liberia – Judge George W. Smith of the Sixth Judicial Circuit Civil Law Court has dismissed calls for an investigation into alleged threats against him, vowing to proceed with the trial involving Speaker Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa without delay.
The legal team representing Koffa, part of the minority bloc and led by former Solicitor General Cllr. Saymah Syrenius Cephas and former Associate Justice Kabineh J’aneh, claimed that members of the majority bloc, under Speaker Richard Nagbe Koon, publicly threatened to impeach Judge Smith if his rulings did not align with their interests. These alleged threats, said to have been made on public platforms and radio broadcasts, have raised alarm over the safety and independence of the judiciary.
Cllr. Cephas argued that the threats compromised judicial integrity and cited Article 73 of the 1986 Constitution, which protects judges from interference and ensures their independence. He urged an investigation to verify the claims.
However, Cllr. H. Varney Sherman, lawyer for the majority bloc and former senator of Grand Cape Mount County, dismissed the allegations as baseless and legally irrelevant. Sherman maintained that the Constitution already guarantees judicial immunity, rendering the purported statements inconsequential. He further accused the minority bloc of fabricating the claims to delay the trial.
During a hearing on the minority bloc’s Bill of Information, Judge Smith acknowledged the threats against him and his family, including attempts to intimidate him by threatening to burn his home and cause harm. Despite these challenges, he reiterated his commitment to uphold the law, emphasizing that yielding to intimidation would weaken the judiciary’s role.
Judge Smith ruled that the trial would proceed as scheduled, rejecting the minority bloc’s calls for an investigation. He underscored the judiciary’s constitutional obligation to adjudicate cases, declaring that its independence must be preserved at all costs.
