By Grace Q. Bryant
The ongoing US$100M cocaine trial took a dramatic turn when the defendant lawyers requested the court to subpoena the National Port Authority and APM Terminals to appear and testify in the case.
Others expected to testify includes James Hinneh of Custom Brokers Union, Mr. Othello Gablah, Publisher of the New Dawn Newspaper, the Management of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the Authority of the Anti-Smuggling Unit of the Custom Services of Liberia.
Their testimonies come while a defense witness, Malam Conte, was being crossed examine by the prosecution.
According to the defense team, NPA and APM Terminals are to appear and testify as to whether the container said to have contain the drugs whether it was checked and cleared by the authorities of the NPA and APM terminal.
The president of the Custom Brokers Union and Othello Gablah, the publisher of the New Dawn Newspaper, they will appear to testify on the allegations made by Hinneh that the government gave special priority to the TRH not to check or inspect any consignment they may have shipped in the country and that the allegation was published in the New Dawn Newspaper.
In response, Judge Blamo Dixon noted, “The application of the defense for the issuance of the Writ of Subpoena Decu-Tecum and Ad-Testificandum on the individuals and institutions was noted and granted.
“The Court shall set the date for the appearance of the said subpoena witnesses after the defense shall have consumed the entire defendants in the term to court on the witness stand,” the court concluded.
