Opening comments of President Joseph Boakai’s state of the nation address to lawmakers has triggered controversy when he appeared to suggest been keen on seeing a guilty verdict in the ongoing arson trial against accused persons including ex-House Speaker Fonati Koffa.
Boakai said his administration is pursuing the arson case “with resolve and impartiality,” but added that “anyone found guilty will bear the full weight of the law.”
The comment, delivered as lawmakers met again outside the joint chamber because of the damage, prompted criticism from some legal observers and civil society figures who say the president’s language appears to urge a guilty outcome and risks prejudicing the ongoing trial.
The president said the attack on the Capitol — “our symbol of democracy” — must not deter the country’s progress and quoted Winston Churchill in calling for steadfastness against those who would “contradict honor.”
More than a year after the December 2024 fire, the prosecution’s case has encountered significant hurdles. Criminal Court “A” disbanded the original jury in early January after prosecutors expressed concerns about juror line of questioning during testimony, and Judge Roosevelt Z. Willie ordered immediate reselection to protect the integrity of the proceedings.
Prosecutors asked for the jury’s removal after a juror, during a Dec. 22 hearing, requested a replay of video footage and then questioned a prosecution witness about whether a person seen in the footage was one of the defendants, Thomas Etheridge.
The juror’s remark that the individual “appeared to be Chinese” and the follow-up questioning led prosecutors to contend jurors might be consulting each other, a claim defense lawyers vehemently denied. Defense counsel argued juror questions show attentiveness and that prosecutors offered no concrete evidence of misconduct.
Evidence presented by the state has also been challenged in open court. Chief Criminal Investigator Raphael Wilson, a principal prosecution witness, acknowledged during testimony that items introduced as alleged arson instruments — including a matchbox and a Clorox bottle purported to contain fuel — yielded no fingerprints attributable to the defendants. He also conceded there is no CCTV footage in evidence linking the accused to the scene.
Defense lawyers have pointed to discrepancies between earlier descriptions of exhibits and what was produced at trial — for example, a matchbox previously described as three inches long appearing much smaller in court, and a container earlier identified as a mayonnaise jar later presented as a Clorox bottle.
Counsel further disputed Wilson’s interpretation of audio recordings and challenged his qualifications to identify voices; Judge Willie allowed the recordings to be played but limited their use to showing that statements were made, not to prove the substantive truth of their contents.
President Boakai:
Mr. Speaker and Honorable Members of the Legislature, we are painfully reminded, again, of last year’s arson attack on the Capitol Building. This attack on our symbol of democracy has forced us, for the second year, to meet in this courtyard instead of the historic chamber.
The legal process to bring those responsible for this heinous act is still ongoing. I, however, assure every Liberian that my administration is pursuing this matter with resolve and impartiality, and that anyone found guilty will bear the full weight of the law! I use this time to remind those driven by narrow personal interests that this country is moving forward, not backward.
As Winston Churchill once observed, we must “never yield to the power of the adversary if it contradicts honor.” In that spirit, our democracy will not be intimidated, our institutions will not be diminished, our commitment to the rule of law and constitutional governance remains unshaken, and the progress we continue to make will not be thwarted.
