Four of five lawmakers facing trial for allegedly burning the Capitol Building pleaded not guilty to related charges on Monday, November 17, 2025, before Criminal Court “A” at the Temple of Justice in Monrovia, after an indictment was read. The defendants are charged with a series of criminal offenses ranging from Arson, Criminal Mischief, Endangering Other People, and Attempted Murder. The lawmakers, including former House Speaker J. Fonati, filed a Writ of Certiorari with the Supreme Court of Liberia seeking a review of the lower court’s decision denying their motion to suppress evidence.
On Wednesday, September 24, 2025, Judge Roosevelt Z. Willie ruled against former Speaker Koffa, Representatives Abu B. Kamara, Dixon Seboe, and Jacob Debee, denying their Motion to Suppress Evidence. The Judges’ ruling ordered the evidence to be turned over to the trial jurors for determination based on a medical report that could not clearly determine claims of sodomy made by some of the defendants, which eventually caused the prosecution to cease.
Judge Willie adjudged: “WHEREFORE AND IN VIEW OF THE FOREGOING, the Court says based on the issues as raised by the defendants, the resistance thereto by the Prosecution, the laws cited herein and the arguments put forth by the Parties, the Motion to Suppress the Evidence is hereby denied and this case is ordered proceeded forthwith.”
However, in a communication to Judge Willie on Thursday, September 25, 2025, the Supreme Court of Liberia revealed a writ of certiorari filed by the defense team, ordering a stay of all proceedings in the case pending a conference with the Justice in Chambers Jamesetta Howard-Wolokolie.
The communication read: “IN RE: J. Fonati Kofa, Dixon W. Seboe, Abu B. Kamara & Jacob C. Debbie, et al of Monrovia, PETITIONERS, VERSUS RL by and thru the Ministry of Justice in the City of Monrovia, County of Montserrado, Liberia, respondents. By directive of Her Honor Jamesetta H. Wolokolie, Associate Justice presiding in Chambers, you are hereby cited to a conference with Her Honor on Thursday, October 2, 2025, at the hour of 3:00 p.m., in connection with the above captioned case. Meanwhile, you are ordered to stay all further proceedings and/or actions in the matter pending the outcome of the conference.”
Judge Willie had ordered the full trial to be assigned for Friday, September 26, 2025, at 10 am prompt; however, the writ of certiorari prevented the actual commencement until yesterday, November 17, after months of back-and-forth pre-trial processes.
The Judge’s decision to deny the motion to suppress evidence was based on a medical report that ruled out sodomy committed against some of the defendants while in pre-trial detention.
In his ruling, he said, “It is the honest view of this Court that the evidence should be passed unto the Trial Jurors, who are the triers of facts and clothed with the legal authority to determine the genuineness of the allegations as made by the Defendants. Notwithstanding this view, it is also the frank assessment of this Court based on Article 10(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which says that, “All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person”. Thus, the State is under obligation to ensure that these rights of the Defendants as stated herein above are respected at all times.
He adjudged on two major reasons based on the medical report, including revocation or voluntary retraction by the defendants of the claim of sodomy during their medical examination, during which time they stated that they were never sexually abused, and no medical examination should be done on their genitals and anuses. Judge Willie said this presupposes that although they had informed the court that the evidence should be suppressed because they were sodomized, this information is imaginary, as insinuated by them during their medical examination. The second issue: The Judge mentioned the admission of the physician in his report, when he acknowledged that the medical examination encountered certain “limitations and constraints, including the passage of time between the alleged incidents and the examinations, which may have obscured or altered physical findings.
Continuing with the report, Judge Willie named the patient’s revocations of consent for specific examinations (notably genital and anal assessments), and the inherent limitations of available diagnostic modalities within the present setting; as such, the report then concludes that despite these constraints, the physician endeavored to provide a thorough, impartial and professionally grounded account of the clinical evidence before them.
“We hasten to note that Dr. Philip Zochonis Ireland provided photographic account of some of the Defendants having scar wounds and some illnesses on their body but further stated that, even though the Defendants overall assessment was consistent with the allegation, however, these findings could also be caused by other conditions other than torture; So, in addition to his admission that his findings were hampered by the passage….” he ruled.
Also, his ruling stated that the admissibility and credibility of the evidence should be determined by the trial jurors, not the court. “It is the honest view of this Court that the evidence should be passed unto the Trial Jurors, who are the triers of facts and clothed with the legal authority to determine the genuineness of the allegations as made by the Defendants,” Judge Willie said. Judge Willie acknowledged Liberia’s obligations under Article 10(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which requires that all persons deprived of liberty be treated with humanity and dignity, maintaining that the trial must proceed.
When Judge Willie ruled and denied the motion and scheduled full proceedings to resume on Friday, September 26, 2025, at 10:00 a.m., defense lead lawyer Cllr. M. Wilkins Wright argued that the evidence was obtained under duress, citing independent medical examinations conducted by Dr. Philip Zochonis Ireland of AMI Expeditionary Healthcare.
Dr. Ireland’s reports, prepared in September of 2025, documented blunt trauma, irregular cardiac rhythm, and psychological manifestations; concluding that these conditions were “highly consistent with the allegation of torture and ill-treatment” under the Istanbul Protocol guidelines. The doctor recommended that defendants Jerry Pokah, Thomas Etheridge, and Eric Susay, all aged 40, do cardiology follow-up, orthopedic and ophthalmology reviews, and urgent psychological care for PTSD. The defendants indicated that Judge Willie mishandled evidentiary issues and insisted that the case raises serious judicial and constitutional questions. The December 18 incident of 2024 implicated several senior past and current officials of Government, drawing national attention.
