Liberia: Justice Minister – Designate Blamo Vows No Witch-hunt of Opponents, No Shield for Friends

MONROVIA – Liberia’s Justice Minister-designate, Cllr. Betty Lamin Blamo, has pledged that the state’s power to prosecute will not be turned into a weapon against political opponents or a shield for friends of those in power, whether in the public or the private sector. By Obediah Johnson Appearing before the Liberian Senate for her confirmation hearing on Monday, October 26, Blamo acknowledged that fear of selective prosecution is widely held among Liberians, and said no case would be prosecuted for reasons outside the law. “I am not unaware of concerns expressed in the press, at the bar, and in ordinary homes that the prosecutorial power of the state can be sharpened against opponents and [used as a] shield for friends. I take this concern seriously. A case will be brought because the evidence supports it and for no other reason.

” She told senators that while she would advance President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s policy agenda and remain accountable to him and to the National Legislature, her first loyalty would be to the Constitution and laws of Liberia. No case lacking evidence would go forward, she said, however loud the public demand for it, and none would be pursued on the basis of political affiliation or status. “Where the law is applied evenly, disputes end in courtrooms instead of on the streets, and ordinary citizens can plan their lives; where the law bends to power, nothing else that the government does will hold. The decision to prosecute will rest on facts, the law, the standard of truth and the standard of proof, and never on political affiliation, county of origin, wealth or status. ” She vowed not to be a minister who prosecutes adversaries with zeal and friends with reluctance, and said she would recuse herself from any case involving a conflict of…