By By: The People News Online
Monrovia, Liberia — Former Finance Minister Samuel D. Tweah Jr. has publicly accused Vice President Jeremiah Koung of directing Criminal Court ‘C’ Judge Ousmane Feika to overturn a jury’s not-guilty verdict in his corruption trial, a charge that strikes at the heart of Liberia’s separation of powers one day before a key court ruling.
In a detailed Facebook statement, Tweah claimed the Government is pursuing a “bogus and spurious allegation of jury misconduct” to revisit an acquittal already delivered by nine jurors. He said Judge Feika has reportedly found no evidence linking him or his lawyers to any improper influence.
Allegations of political directive
Tweah alleged that the decision to pursue the jury misconduct investigation was made after “a lengthy Government discussion” and a “national security assessment,” with the final directive handed to Judge Feika last Thursday.
He further claimed that in internal government debates, Vice President Koung told justices and officials that “winning election is more important for their Government than protecting the rule of law.”
Tweah also quoted unnamed “patriotic voices” in government and on the Supreme Court bench as warning that overturning a jury verdict would be “unprecedented overreach that will doom the judiciary,” particularly after a recent unanimous acquittal in the case of former LTA Chairman Abdullah Kamara.
“The law is bigger than any President or Vice President”
Framing the case as a test of Liberia’s democratic order, Tweah said the court’s ruling tomorrow “has no bearing” because the jury has already declared him a free man. He warned that he would “submit to no bogus political trial in violation of my constitutional rights.”
He linked the alleged interference to Liberia’s autocratic past, stating: “These diabolical antics could happen in the 80s or 90s when… the political wishes and caprices of presidents became the law. The law is bigger today than the whims of any President or Vice President!”
Tweah directly challenged Judge Feika and Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene Yuoh to resist what he called “manipulations and interferences from Vice President Jeremiah Koung and others of his ilk, bent on plunging Liberia into chaos for the sake of winning elections.”
Judiciary under pressure ahead of ruling
Judge Feika is expected to rule on the Government’s investigation into alleged jury tampering. The court has not commented on Tweah’s allegations. The Vice President’s office also had not issued a response by press time.
The allegation, if substantiated, would constitute a serious breach of judicial independence and could set a precedent for executive influence in high-profile corruption cases. Legal observers note that courts may review jury verdicts only on narrow legal grounds, and not at the direction of the executive.
Tweah ended his statement by declaring, “I am a free man… They wanted to make me a ‘criminal;’ they can now have me as a freedom fighter,” and announced plans to address the media following the ruling.
The case now places the Boakai administration and the Judiciary under intense scrutiny over whether political considerations will override a jury verdict in one of the government’s most prominent corruption prosecutions.
