"Green Advocates’ Motion for Case Transfer Denied", 11 January 2021

The Weala Magisterial Court in Margibi County has denied a petition by human rights advocacy group Green Advocates, citing reasons that points put forth by the group’s legal team about transferring the case of attack on some residents around the operational area of the Salala Rubber Corporation (SRC) were not genuine enough to have the case transferred.

Green Advocates of recent took some men identified to be loyal to the Salala Rubber Corporation to the Weala Magisterial Court for allegedly attacking advocates and villagers who were protesting against the company’s operation for land issue.

In Green Advocates’ petition, it contended that going through the case in the area of the incident that led to court action will generate prejudice and public sentiments whereby some will begin to identify witnesses and, if any of the witnesses is related to a defendant, the issue will be the talk of the town, thus playing on the mind of the witness.

Additionally, and most importantly to the Green Advocates, it contended that the Stipendiary Magistrate of Weala, Marthaline Peters, prior to the case of the attack reaching the court, had issued a statement through written communication earlier referring to the complaint of those attacked and Green Advocates as lies and misleading information, something the prosecution said undermines the integrity of the court to preside over the case and therefore should transfer it to either Bong County or Monrovia where the presiding court will do due diligence to examine well the sanity of the case.

... When a member of SRC’s legal team was contacted for an interview, he refrained on an excuse that the case is in court and cannot comment to the media as far as the court rule is concerned.