“Your Release Is The Demonstration Of Justice” … Browne Tells Beneficiaries

The chairperson of the Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INCHR) has termed the released of 117 inmates from the Monrovia Central Prison as the demonstration of justice as well as a positive step to decongesting prison facilities across the country.
Cllr. T. Dempster Browne said the release of those individuals by the judge of Criminal Court “A” is a demonstration of the goodwill of the court to ensure those in prison are indicted or tried by a court of competent jurisdiction before being remanded at prison facilities across Liberia.
In his 2024 Human Rights Situation Report on Liberia, which was released in March of this year, Brown described prison conditions as appalling and poses health threats for hundreds of people serving prison term as well as those in pretrial detention. The report also highlighted the overcrowding of prison facilities across the country, claiming that in some prisons, like the MPC, imprisonment becomes a death sentence, due to the lack of adequate drugs, proper sanitation, recreation as well as capacity building facilities, which contravenes international prison standards.
“I want to thank Judge Willie for doing the right thing. The MPC was built for about three hundred people, but today, there are over 1,600 persons there, and most of them are on pretrial detention far beyond the statutory period,” Browne said.
The INCHR boss described the decision of Judge Roosevelt Willie as a service to justice and called on courts throughout the country to emulate the Criminal Court “A” to dispense justice without fear or favor. The Constitutional principle of ‘presumption of innocence until proven guilty ‘ should be the compass to which all courts are obligated to abide by. Keeping accused in detention without an opportunity to be heard is not just a travesty of justice, but also an equivalent of arbitrariness.
The INCHR remains a critical partner to the Government, advising and proposing the improvement of human rights in all spheres of Government.
“We will commend the Government if it follows thru its obligation under the constitution of Liberia and international human rights instruments. This is why we appreciate the decision of the court and thank Judge Willie for being proactive in releasing those individuals,” Brown noted.
On April 10, 2025, Judge Roosevelt Willie of Criminal Court ‘A’ ordered the release of 117 inmates from the Monrovia Central Prison, citing the government’s failure to indict people held in prolonged detention.
Some of those released have spent over nine years in prison without trial. The Criminal Court “A” described the release of the 117 inmates who had been in prolonged pretrial detention without indictment as a gross failure of justice by the Liberian government.
The decision by Criminal Court “A” at the Temple of Justice, followed a motion filed by defense lawyers who argued the detainees’ rights had been repeatedly violated.
Those released had been facing a range of criminal allegations, including murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery, arson, manslaughter, and criminal conspiracy. They were arrested between 2017 and 2019 but were never formally indicted by the government which was a violation of Liberia’s Constitution and Criminal Procedure Law.
“While we want prison facilities to be decongested due to the outbreaks of communicable diseases, we want the court to be careful and pay keen attention to the process, as it is obvious that some wrong people could sneak into the process,” Browne warned.