Liberia’s main opposition Congress for Democratic Change accused Vice President Jeremiah Koung of trying to intimidate a trial judge into overturning the acquittal of former Finance Minister Samuel Tweah.
In a late Monday night statement, CDC said “powerful interests” in the administration of President Joseph Boakai and Vice President Koung were seeking to undermine the judiciary after a jury in early May cleared Tweah of all corruption charges brought by the government.
The party said it had received information that Judge Ousmane Feika was facing intimidation and death threats if he declined to reverse the verdict, though it offered no evidence. Oracle News Daily coulld not independently verify the allegations.
“The acquittal of Samuel D. Tweah Jr. by a duly constituted jury after a public trial and ongoing attempt to illegally vacate the verdict compels this public record,” the CDC said.
It described any effort to set aside the verdict as an abuse of power and warned against what it called “kangaroo justice.”
The government has not publicly responded to the allegations. The CDC said the case is part of a broader pattern of state institutions being used against political opponents and warned it would resist any move it sees as undermining constitutional order.
Tweah, who served as finance minister under former President George Weah, was acquitted after nearly two years of proceedings in a case that drew intense political attention in Liberia. The government had accused him of corruption, allegations he denied.
The CDC urged Liberia’s judiciary, civil society, religious groups and international partners to defend judicial independence and the rule of law. “The jury has spoken. The Constitution must prevail,” the party said.
The allegations come at a sensitive moment for Liberia, where political rivalries have often overlapped with disputes over the courts and the balance of power between the executive and the judiciary.kounk
