Days after the Justice in Chambers of the Supreme Court of Liberia mandated Judge Roosevelt Z. Willie of Criminal Court “A” at the Temple of Justice in Monrovia to continue releasing inmates from the Monrovia Central Prison (South Beach), 14 individuals were freed from detention.
Judge Willie, who took nearly a week to finalize the releases, ordered the release of the 14 prisoners on Thursday. This decision was based on a mandate issued by Chambers Justice Ceaineh D. Clinton-Johnson, who had been reviewing the matter for nearly a month. The mandate was issued on Friday, June 13, 2025, during which the Chambers Justice instructed Judge Willie to take jurisdiction over the case.
The first and second batches of releases occurred on April 9 and April 16 of this year, totaling 30 inmates released at that time. The release of these pre-trial detainees was primarily due to their prolonged incarceration, with some having spent up to nine years in prison. Judge Willie ordered their release following a consolidated petition filed by Counsellors Sennay Carlo II and Aloysius Toe.
On two separate occasions, Judge Willie had sought to release the detainees from the Monrovia Central Prison; however, prosecuting attorneys objected due to charges that included murder, arson, armed robbery, criminal conspiracy, criminal facilitation, manslaughter, and aggravated assault, among others.
The matter was paused for nearly two months after state lawyers appealed to the Supreme Court, yet they made no effort to prosecute the cases while the detainees remained in prison. Recently, the Ministry of Justice, through the Bureau of Corrections and Rehabilitation (BCR) at the Monrovia Central Prison (South Beach), provided a statistical report indicating that the facility was significantly overcrowded. Superintendent Roosevelt Varney recorded a total of 1,554 inmates in custody.
According to Varney’s report, there were 1,046 adult male pre-trial detainees, 35 adult females, 14 juvenile males, and one juvenile female, totaling 1,096 inmates. Additionally, there were 27 males sentenced to life imprisonment, and the total sentenced population comprised 440 adult males, 17 adult females, one juvenile male, and no juvenile females, totaling 458 detainees.
In cases of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), the total number of pre-trial detainees stood at 211, with 185 males and 26 females behind bars; those already sentenced included 26 males and no females. On April 16, 2025, 19 detainees from the second batch of untried suspects were released, while another batch was scheduled for release the following day. This caused frustration among prosecuting attorneys, who brought their concerns to the attention of the Chambers Justice, who took time before addressing the matter.
The first batch of releases took place on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, and involved charges ranging from murder to aggravated assault, armed robbery, arson, manslaughter, and criminal conspiracy, among others. Montserrado County Attorney Cllr. Richard Scott confirmed that the Chambers Justice reviewed the matter and instructed Judge Willie to proceed with the releases. Cllr. Scott expressed regret that the government has failed to prosecute or indict many of those incarcerated over the years. He noted that having criminal suspects in detention for five to nine years without prosecution reflects poorly on the government’s judicial system. Since the consolidated petition for dismissal filed by Counsellors Carlo II and Toe, the court has released over 30 inmates from the prison facility, while more than 70 out of 106 detainees remain behind bars.
