-CSO Group Reacts To UP Youth League
Independent Societal Watch Advocates, ISWA, a local advocacy group, says it condemns recent comments attributed to the chairman of the Youth League of the ruling Unity Party, Togar Melvin Cephas, accusing Justice Minister, Oswald Tweh, of ineffectively leading the charge to fight corruption in Liberia.
The UP Youth League Chairman, Cephas, is said to have made the remarks in a social media post the wake of the non-guilty verdict rendered in the landmark US$6.2M corruption case involving former Finance and Development {lanning Minister, Samuel D. Tweah, and four others.
ISWA in a statement said the UP Youth League Chairman’s social media post was denigrating and unrepresentative of the Justice Minister.
Cephas in his post asserted that the Justice Minister Tweh is careless about prosecuting corruption and has become an embarrassment to the current administration and the Liberian people.
ISWA in a statement issued on Monday, May 11, described has unfair and damaging not only to the integrity of the Justice Minister, but also to the Country’s Justice System.
ISWA said the non-guilty verdict in favor former Finance and Development Minister Tweah, should not be interpreted as weakness on the part of the Justice Minister, but rather, as evidence that Liberia’s judicial system is functioning independently and transparently.
The independent advocacy group argued that the outcome of the case demonstrates that the courts are capable of making decisions free of political pressure or interference, regardless of public expectations or political affiliations.
It said the prosecution and the judiciary in any democratic society must be allowed to operate within the confines of the law and available evidence, further arguing that a non-guilty verdict does not mean the incompetence or failure of state prosecutors.
ISWA warned against what it termed “politically charged attacks” on public officials performing constitutional duties, adding that such comments have the tendency to undermine public confidence in the rule of law.
The group called on political actors and youth leaders to exercise restraint and respect judicial outcomes, especially in cases of national significance.
ISWA extolled the judiciary for what it described as a transparent handling of the just ended high profiled corruption case involving former Finance Minister Tweah and four others.
The independent advocacy group also urged Liberians to view the verdict as a sign of what it calls democratic maturity and not political weakness.
